An unfortunately common and well-known form of punishment for children is spanking. Often used as a means of teaching them a lesson, parents across the world have chosen to physically harm their children for centuries now.
Recently, a large review that covered dozens of studies was published that collects and shares the undebatable facts about the harm spanking does to children.
The review was of 69 different studies that took place in nine countries, and it analyzed the findings between spanking as a form of punishment and long-term behavioral effects on children.
"Parents hit their children because they think doing so will improve their behavior," said senior author Elizabeth Gershoff, according to CNN. "Unfortunately for parents who hit, our research found clear and compelling evidence that physical punishment does not improve children's behavior and instead makes it worse."
It was namely seen in their conduct at school where they displayed increased aggression, antisocial behavior, and disruptive behavior.
It was also recorded in one study that children who were physically punished gained "fewer cognitive skills" than those who weren't.
Gershoff and her team examined a number of studies that discussed the connection between the frequency of physical punishment and how that affected children's behavior. Most of those studies recorded a "dose-response effect."
"In other words, as physical punishment increased in frequency, so did its likelihood of predicting worse outcomes over time," said Gershoff.
Oppositional defiant disorder specifically, which is categorized by frequent temper tantrums, anger, refusal to follow rules, and general aggression.
These effects cannot be whisked away either, as another batch of studies showed that if the parenting style was warm and kind outside of the spanking, it "did not buffer the effect of physical punishment on an increase in behavior problems."
Studies like this aim to show the world that this isn't the right way to go about disciplining your children, and can lead them down some terrible paths. Hopefully, as the years go by and the generations shift, we'll continue to see fewer and fewer parents choosing to physically punish their children and learn other methods of teaching instead.
h/t: CNN
