Hit & Ruin

A study in the August 2012 issue of Pediatrics journal concluded:


Harsh physical punishment in the absence of child maltreatment is associated with mood disorders, anxiety disorders, substance abuse/dependence, and personality disorders in a general population sample. These findings inform the ongoing debate around the use of physical punishment and provide evidence that harsh physical punishment independent of child maltreatment is related to mental disorders.

Another study titled, "Physical Punishment and Childhood Aggression: The Role of Gender and Gene-Environment Interplay," recently published in the journal Aggressive Behavior concluded:


"... that genetic factors affect which children display aggressive behavior, but we also found that genetic factors matter more when children were exposed to spanking as a disciplinary tactic," said Barnes, an assistant professor of criminology in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences.


In this study, the link between environmental factors (in this particular study being spanking) and genetic predisposition to aggressive behavior was only found in boys.

I ask all of you... Is this worth it?

For more information about the effects of corporal punishment, please read this post.

Hit me once, shame on you. Hit me twice, I'll be like you...

Corporal punishment, or in layman terms, using physical violence as a means for punishment, is still debated in our region of the world.  You cannot imagine how many times I have heard statements similar to "I was beaten by my parents, and look at me now", as a supportive statement for the use of physical punishment.  I will not address such a statement, but I will try to explain briefly the lessons a child learns from corporal punishment.

• Corporal punishment will teach a child fear.  Fear may result in immediate change in behavior, but fear will not be a motivator nor a lesson in why such a change should be made.

• Corporal punishment will NOT lead to cognitive awareness and acceptance of behavior change.

• Corporal punishment can lead to lower self-esteem and feelings of helplessness.

• Corporal punishment is the antithesis of respect.  Your child may fear you, but s/he will not respect you.

• Corporal punishment teaches your child that it is O.K. to lose your temper and hit someone.  A lesson, many parents often regret when the school year begins.

• Corporal punishment may teach a child that a behavior was unacceptable, but doesn't give the child alternative ways of action(positive behavior).

• Corporal punishment will teach the child that s/he is able to trigger a reaction from you.  They will soon learn that they are more in control than you are.

• Corporal punishment is a form of child abuse, and is punishable in most countries who have established infrastructure and child protection laws.

This is a brief look at some of the most common results to the use of corporal punishment.  There is more to say, but I leave it to you dear readers to draw your own conclusions and make up your own minds.  The image below (which I have used in a previous post) represents the title of today's post: