Smacking children as a means of discipline (read: corporal punishment) is a controversial topic of conversation whether you have children or not. And now, as new international research emerges, spanking kids is now believed to not only be regarded as detrimental to their development.
Yep according to a new study led by the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell suggest that the more a child is physically punished with a smack, the higher chance they had of developing more slowly than they should.
When talking about developmental delays, this means that kids who are smacked at a young age could be less likely to reach milestones in their development, like talking, writing, emotionally expressing themselves and thinking critically by certain ages.
While smacking isn’t illegal in Australia (however, it is in Sweden and Scotland), as previously reported byNow To Love, scientific research has also shown that children who are smacked are more likely to be abusive when they get older. Researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch found that smacking children teaches them that violence is acceptable.
“Numerous studies have shown that smacking doesn’t work. Smacking is more likely to come from your own frustration,” says Mother & Baby editor Erin Mayo.
Erin’s advice to curb the desire to discipline this way? Consider ‘positive parenting’.
“The trend today is towards positive parenting: Listening to your children to work out why/where the behaviour comes, rewarding and encouraging good behaviour from and using thing like time out or loss of privileges as punishment for negative behaviour.”
