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SPANKING
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10 Reasons Not to Hit Your Child 1. HITTING MODELS HITTING
There is a classic story about the mother who believed in
spanking as a necessary part of discipline until one day she observed her three-
year-old daughter hitting her one-year-old son. When confronted, her daughter
said, "I'm just playing mommy." This mother never spanked another
child.Children love to imitate, especially people whom they love and respect.
They perceive that it's okay for them to do whatever you do. Parents, remember,
you are bringing up someone else's mother or father, and wife or husband. The
same discipline techniques you employ with your children are the ones they are
most likely to carry on in their own parenting. The family is a training camp
for teaching children how to handle conflicts. Studies show that children from
spanking families are more likely to use aggression to handle conflicts when
they become adults.
Spanking demonstrates that it's all right for people to hit people, and especially for big people to hit little people, and stronger people to hit weaker people. Children learn that when you have a problem you solve it with a good swat. A child whose behavior is controlled by spanking is likely to carry on this mode of interaction into other relationships with siblings and peers, and eventually a spouse and offspring. But, you say, "I don't spank my child that often or that hard. Most of the time I show him lots of love and gentleness. An occasional swat on the bottom won't bother him." This rationalization holds true for some children, but other children remember spanking messages more than nurturing ones. You may have a hug-hit ratio of 100:1 in your home, but you run the risk of your child remembering and being influenced more by the one hit than the 100 hugs, especially if that hit was delivered in anger or unjustly, which happens all too often. Physical punishment shows that it's all right to vent your anger or right a wrong by hitting other people. This is why the parent's attitude during the spanking leaves as great an impression as the swat itself. How to control one's angry impulses (swat control) is one of the things you are trying to teach your children. Spanking sabotages this teaching. Spanking guidelines usually give the warning to never spank in anger. If this guideline were to be faithfully observed 99 percent of spanking wouldn't occur, because once the parent has calmed down he or she can come up with a more appropriate method of correction. VERBAL AND EMOTIONAL "HITTING" 2. HITTING DEVALUES THE CHILD
The child's self-image begins with how he perceives that others – especially his
parents – perceive him Even in the most loving homes, spanking gives a confusing
message, especially to a child too young to understand the reason for the whack.
Parents spend a lot of time building up their baby or child's sense of being
valued, helping the child feel "good." Then the child breaks a glass, you
spank, and he feels, "I must be bad."
Even a guilt-relieving hug from a parent after a spank doesn't remove the sting. The child is likely to feel the hit, inside and out, long after the hug. Most children put in this situation will hug to ask for mercy. "If I hug him, daddy will stop hitting me." When spanking is repeated over and over, one message is driven home to the child, "You are weak and defenseless." Joan, a loving mother, sincerely believed that spanking was a parental right and obligation needed to turn out an obedient child. She felt spanking was "for the child's own good." After several months of spank-controlled discipline, her toddler became withdrawn. She would notice him playing alone in the corner, not interested in playmates, and avoiding eye contact with her. He had lost his previous sparkle. Outwardly he was a "good boy." Inwardly, Spencer thought he was a bad boy. He didn't feel right and he didn't act right. Spanking made him feel smaller and weaker, overpowered by people bigger than him. SLAPPING HANDS 3. HITTING DEVALUES THE PARENT
Parents who spank-control or otherwise abusively punish their children often
feel devalued themselves because deep down they don't feel right about their way
of discipline. Often they spank (or yell) in desperation because they don't
know what else to do, but afterward feel more powerless when they find it
doesn't work. As one mother who dropped spanking from her correction list put
it, "I won the battle, but lost the war. My child now fears me, and I feel I've
lost something precious."
Spanking also devalues the role of a parent. Being an authority figure means you are trusted and respected, but not feared. Lasting authority cannot be based on fear. Parents or other caregivers who repeatedly use spanking to control children enter into a lose-lose situation. Not only does the child lose respect for the parent, but the parents also lose out because they develop a spanking mindset and have fewer alternatives to spanking. The parent has fewer preplanned, experience-tested strategies to divert potential behavior, so the child misbehaves more, which calls for more spanking. This child is not being taught to develop inner control. Hitting devalues the parent-child relationship. Corporal punishment puts a distance between the spanker and the spankee. This distance is especially troubling in home situations where the parent-child relationship may already be strained, such as single-parent homes or blended families. While some children are forgivingly resilient and bounce back without a negative impression on mind or body, for others it's hard to love the hand that hits them. 4. HITTING MAY LEAD TO ABUSE
Punishment escalates. Once you
begin punishing a child "a little bit," where do you stop? A toddler reaches
for a forbidden glass. You tap the hand as a reminder not to touch. He reaches
again, you swat the hand. After withdrawing his hand briefly, he once again
grabs grandmother's valuable vase. You hit the hand harder. You've begun a
game no one can win. The issue then becomes who's stronger—your child's will or
your hand—not the problem of touching the vase. What do you do now? Hit harder
and harder until the child's hand is so sore he can't possibly continue to
"disobey?" The danger of beginning corporal punishment in the first place is
that you may feel you have to bring out bigger guns: your hand becomes a fist,
the switch becomes a belt, the folded newspaper becomes a wooden spoon, and now
what began as seemingly innocent escalates into child abuse. Punishment sets
the stage for child abuse. Parents who are programmed to punish set themselves
up for punishing harder, mainly because they have not learned alternatives and
click immediately into the punishment mode when their child misbehaves.
5. HITTING DOES NOT IMPROVE BEHAVIOR
Many times we have heard parents say, "The more we spank the more he
misbehaves." Spanking makes a child's behavior worse, not better. Here's why.
Remember the basis for promoting desirable behavior: The child who feels right
acts right. Spanking undermines this principle. A child who is hit feels wrong
inside and this shows up in his behavior. The more he misbehaves, the more he
gets spanked and the worse he feels. The cycle continues. We want the child to
know that he did wrong, and to feel remorse, but to still believe that he is a
person who has value.
The Cycle of Misbehavior Misbehavior Worse behavior Spanking Decreased self-esteem, anger One of the goals of disciplinary action is to stop the misbehavior immediately, and spanking may do that. It is more important to create the conviction within the child that he doesn't want to repeat the misbehavior (i.e, internal rather than external control). One of the reasons for the ineffectiveness of spanking in creating internal controls is that during and immediately after the spanking, the child is so preoccupied with the perceived injustice of the physical punishment (or maybe the degree of it he's getting) that he "forgets" the reason for which he was spanked. Sitting down with him and talking after the spanking to be sure he's aware of what he did can be done just as well (if not better) without the spanking part. Alternatives to spanking can be much more thought-and-conscience-provoking for a child, but they may take more time and energy from the parent. This brings up a main reason why some parents lean toward spanking—it's easier. 6. HITTING IS ACTUALLY NOT BIBLICAL
Don't use the Bible as an excuse to spank. There
is confusion in the ranks of people of Judeo-Christian heritage who, seeking
help from the Bible in their effort to raise godly children, believe that God
commands them to spank. They take "spare the rod and
spoil the child" seriously and fear that if they don't spank, they will commit
the sin of losing control of their child. In our counseling experience, we find
that these people are devoted parents who love God and love their children, but
they misunderstand the concept of the rod.
Rod verses - what they really mean. The following are the biblical verseswhich have caused the greatest confusion: "Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him." (Prov. 22:15) "He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him." (Prov. 13:24) "Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with the rod, he will not die. Punish him with the rod and save his soul from death." (Prov. 23:13-14) "The rod of correction imparts wisdom, but a child left to itself disgraces his mother." (Prov. 29:15) At first glance these verses may sound pro-spanking. But you might consider a different interpretation of these teachings. "Rod" (shebet) means different things in different parts of the Bible. The Hebrew dictionary gives this word various meanings: a stick (for punishment, writing, fighting, ruling, walking, etc.). While the rod could be used for hitting, it was more frequently used for guiding wandering sheep. Shepherds didn't use the rod to beat their sheep - and children are certainly more valuable than sheep. As shepherd-author Philip Keller teaches so well in A Shepherd Looks At Psalm 23, the shepherd's rod was used to fight off prey and the staff was used to gently guide sheep along the right path. ("Your rod and your staff, they comfort me." – Psalm 23:4). Jewish families we've interviewed, who carefully follow dietary and lifestyle guidelines in the Scripture, do not practice "rod correction" with their children because they do not follow that interpretation of the text. The book of Proverbs is one of poetry. It is logical that the writer would have used a well-known tool to form an image of authority. We believe that this is the point that God makes about the rod in the Bible – parents take charge of your children. When you re-read the "rod verses," use the concept of parental authority when you come to the word "rod," ratherthan the concept of beating or spanking. It rings true in every instance. While Christians and Jews believe that the Old Testament is the inspired word of God, it is also a historical text that has been interpreted in many ways over the centuries, sometimes incorrectly in order to support the beliefs of the times. These "rod" verses have been burdened with interpretations about corporal punishment that support human ideas. Other parts of the Bible, especially the New Testament, suggest that respect, authority, and tenderness should be the prevailing attitudes toward children among people of faith. In the New Testament, Christ modified the traditional eye-for-an-eye system of justice with His turn-the-other-cheek approach. Christ preached gentleness, love, and understanding, and seemed against any harsh use of the rod, as stated by Paul in 1 Cor. 4:21: "Shall I come to you with the whip (rod), or in love and with a gentle spirit?" Paul went on to teach fathers about the importance of not provoking anger in their children (which is what spanking usually does): "Fathers, do not exasperate your children" (Eph. 6:4), and "Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will be discouraged" (Col. 3:21). In our opinion, nowhere in the Bible does it say you must spank your child to be a godly parent. SPARE THE ROD!There are parents who should not spank and children who should not be spanked. Are there factors in your history, your temperament, or your relationship with your child that put you at risk for abusing your child? Are there characteristics in your child that make spanking unwise?
If the answer to any of these queries is yes, you would be wise to develop a no-spanking mindset in your home and do your best to come up with noncorporal alternatives. If you find you are unable to do this on your own, talk with someone who can help you. 7. HITTING PROMOTES ANGER - IN CHILDREN AND IN PARENTS
Children often perceive punishment as unfair. They
are more likely to rebel against corporal punishment than against other
disciplinary techniques. Children do not think rationally like adults, but they
do have an innate sense of fairness—though their standards are not the same as
adults. This can prevent punishment from working as you hoped it would and can
contribute to an angry child. Oftentimes, the sense of unfairness escalates to
a feeling of humiliation. When punishment humiliates children they either rebel
or withdraw. While spanking may appear to make the child afraid to repeat the
misbehavior, it is more likely to make the child fear the spanker.
In our experience, and that of many who have thoroughly researched corporal punishment, children whose behaviors are spank-controlled throughout infancy and childhood may appear outwardly compliant, but inside they are seething with anger. They feel that their personhood has been violated, and they detach themselves from a world they perceive has been unfair to them. They find it difficult to trust, becoming insensitive to a world that has been insensitive to them. Parents who examine their feelings after spanking often realize that all they have accomplished is to relieve themselves of anger. This impulsive release of anger often becomes addicting—perpetuating a cycle of ineffective discipline. We have found that the best way to prevent ourselves from acting on the impulse to spank is to instill in ourselves two convictions: 1. That we will not spank our children. 2. That we will discipline them. Since we have decided that spanking is not an option, we must seek out better alternatives. 8. HITTING BRINGS BACK BAD MEMORIES
A child's memories of being spanked can scar otherwise joyful scenes of growing
up. People are more likely to recall traumatic events than pleasant ones. I
grew up in a very nurturing home, but I was occasionally and "deservedly"
spanked. I vividly remember the willow branch scenes. After my wrongdoing my
grandfather would send me to my room and tell me I was going to receive a
spanking. I remember looking out the window, seeing him walk across the lawn
and take a willow branch from the tree and come back to my room and spank me
across the back of my thighs with the branch. The willow branch seemed to be an
effective spanking tool because it stung and made an impression upon me—
physically and mentally. Although I remember growing up in a loving home, I
don't remember specific happy scenes with nearly as much detail as I remember
the spanking scenes. I have always thought that one of our goals as parents is
to fill our children's memory bank with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of pleasant
scenes. It's amazing how the unpleasant memories of spankings can block out
those positive memories.
ABUSIVE HITTING HAS BAD LONG-TERM EFFECTS
The evidence against spanking is overwhelming. Hundreds of studies all come to the same conclusions: 1. The more physical punishment a child receives, the more aggressive he or
she will become. 10. SPANKING DOESN'T WORK
Many studies show the futility of spanking as a disciplinary technique, but none
show its usefulness. In the past thirty years in pediatric practice, we have
observed thousands of families who have tried spanking and found it doesn't
work. Our general impression is that parents spank less as their experience
increases. Spanking doesn't work for the child, for the parents, or for
society. Spanking does not promote good behavior, it creates a distance between
parent and child, and it contributes to a violent society. Parents who rely on
punishment as their primary mode of discipline don't grow in their knowledge of
their child. It keeps them from creating better alternatives, which would help
them to know their child and build a better relationship. In the process of
raising our own eight children, we have also concluded that spanking doesn't
work. We found ourselves spanking less and less as our experience and the
number of children increased. In our home, we have programmed ourselves against
spanking and are committed to creating an attitude within our children, and an
atmosphere within our home, that renders spanking unnecessary. Since spanking
is not an option, we have been forced to come up with better alternatives. This
has not only made us better parents, but in the long run we believe it has
created more sensitive and well-behaved children.
By now you should realize that our position on spanking is simple: don't. But we are also experienced enough to realize that some loving, nurturing, committed parents believe in spanking as part of their overall discipline package. As a pediatrician with thirty years in practice, I am also quite aware that regardless of our advice against spanking, some parents are going to spank their children. For these parents, the best we can hope for is to help them spank in a way that is less likely to become abusive. Consider these suggestions. 1. Examine your overall parenting style If you are generally a nurturing
parent practicing the attachment style of parenting, an occasional spanking is
unlikely to damage your child or relationship—but it's unlikely to help it
either. If, on the other hand, you are practicing a more restrained style of
parenting, spanking will be another obstacle that prevents you from knowing your
child.
2. Examine your relationship with your child Do you generally feel
connected to your child? Do you feel that you have a handle on why your child
behaves the way he or she does and can anticipate the undesirable behaviors
before they begin? Do you know what triggers undesirable behaviors and what
fosters desirable ones? Do you see signs that your child feels close to you:
eye contact, approaching you, putting his arms around you, wanting to be picked
up, enjoying being with you, and being able to communicate with you? If this is
true, then an occasional spanking is unlikely to harm your relationship. If,
however, you have a distant relationship and don't feel connected to your child,
physical punishment is likely to increase the distance between you.
Here is a story from a mother of two of my patients. She is an intuitive, loving parent with a strong connection to her children, and she has a huge repertoire of alternatives to spanking. "There have been a few times when we have had to spank our kids, and it was when they were between three and five years old. It was three or four times for our daughter, maybe once or twice for our son. I don't like to see tantruming children flailing out of control. They need something to help them get control back. So on the few occasions that they were literally out of control we've used spanking. I can remember when one of them was throwing a tantrum, my husband said, 'I have to swat your bottom to help you stop.' It shocked him and he was able to regain his control." Other parents would handle this differently and would not respond this way to tantrums. Yet these parents know their children and know their own tolerances for "out of control" behavior. One comment I do have is that the reason the swat worked is that it had shock value, meaning it was the first (and rare) occurrence. It got the child's attention because these parents saved it for the one situation they personally could not tolerate. 3. Determine where spanking fits in your overall discipline package Do you
raise your hand in the swatting position or grab the wooden spoon as a knee-jerk
response the moment your child misbehaves? One way to tell if you are a reflex
hitter is if your child flinches anytime you move your hand suddenly upward in
his vicinity. Reflex spanking is rarely helpful for several reasons: It's done
out of anger, you may spank harder than intended, and you don't allow yourself
time to try alternatives. If you resolve to put spanking way down on the list
of correction techniques, you will have to try alternatives first rather than
immediately click into "hit mode."
4. Don't spank in anger If you are an angry
person given to impulsive hitting, realize you are at risk for spanking
abusively and dangerously. Some children have a way of pushing "hot buttons" in
adults, and some adults have very sensitive buttons. Examine your feelings
during and after spanking. Do you spank to punish your child, or to vent your
anger? Who's the spanking for, you or your child? Says Martha: Martha's
Comments: "Previously, when I did spank our children, I never felt right about
it. I didn't spank because the behavior was so bad, but because I had been
inconvenienced, and I was taking it out on the child. I used to slap our first
two children in anger, and as I slapped I could see in my mind's eye how I had
been slapped by angry adults as a child. It was those flashbacks that made me
realize how wrong I was for me to hit our child."
When you are angry, you are likely to spank too hard because you are out of control. (Seeing you out of control traumatizes them as much as the spanking.) Spanking in anger leaves the wrong impression on children's minds. They may be so bothered by the anger in your eyes and face that they don't realize the reason or the justification for the spanking. As a result, the punishment has no teaching value. A proper disciplinary action should improve the relationship with your child by creating a feeling that the parents are fair and consistent boundary setters; the child can depend on them to be in charge when he himself is out of control. Spanking, especially in anger, disturbs the trust between caregiver and child. In our family, we have found the best way to avoid spanking in anger is to mentally program ourselves against spanking. We have resolved never to spank. This preprogramming against spanking will override the reflex to smack a child, and give us time to think about what type of correction is best in this situation. Programming against spanking is a sort of safety valve that keeps you from possibly hurting your child. 5. Do not violate your child Removing underwear in order to spank bare skin
is a humiliating invasion of personal and private space and sexually threatening
and confusing to the child. So firmly resist the traditional image of the bare-
bottomed child stretched across your lap.
Should you use your open hand, paddle, or a switch to spank? Use of any one of the above will not cause permanent physical harm if you avoid too much force. The one tool we definitely advise against is a wooden spoon because we have seen bodily injury result from this club-like instrument. Any spanking that leaves black and blue marks (bruising) is wrong whether you use an object or your hand. Keep your hand open and flat—a fisted hand will be too forceful and damaging. A child old enough to spank (see number 6) will also understand that your loving hand is holding the spanking tool. The hand-versus-object debate is meaningless to him. 6. Explain the spank Spanking without an explanation contributes little to
discipline. In fact, studies have shown that calm spanking preceded by a
rational explanation does less harm and more good than spanking without such
reasoning. Explaining the punishment can be therapeutic for both the spanker
and the spankee. It helps you decide whether or not your action is appropriate.
It makes it less likely that the child will repeat the misbehavior, gives your
child a chance to make a judgment about the fairness of the action, and
preserves the self-image of the child by treating him as a rational person. The
child will feel angry and humiliated about the spanking if he feels that there
is no reason for it.
Getting the child to understand why he is being spanked helps to clear the air of angry feelings and contributes to his gaining self-control. If during your explanation you either begin to realize that you have the facts wrong or your heart is telling you there is a better way to deal with the situation, by all means switch to another corrective action and make a mental note to give this whole thing more thought. A child under three will not be able to fully understand your explanation; he'll just know he's being hit and it has something to do with his being bad. He's probably also too young to separate his person from his action, so he'll think he's bad even though you are telling him "that was a bad thing to do." 7. Ask yourself, "Is spanking working?" Evaluate your discipline techniques
every month or two, especially physical punishment. Which ones are working? Is
your child misbehaving less? Is your relationship with your child getting
better? Is your child's self-worth increasing? If the answers to all the
questions are "yes" then you are on the right track. If any disciplinary
action is not working, drop it. If you are spanking harder and more often, this
technique is obviously not working and you need to consider alternatives. You
need to consider other modes of discipline if you find your child is misbehaving
more. Change what you're doing if the distance between you and your child is
increasing.
8. Examine the time you spend with your child Is much of your quality time
with your child spent punishing? If this is so, you are likely to have an angry
child and a weak parent-child relationship. The joys of parenting and the
stages of growing up are too precious to waste on such negative interaction.
Consider changing your approach; spend a lot of time with your child just having
fun. Let your child help you work around the house or run errands. Tell him
you enjoy his companionship. As your child realizes how much fun it is to be
with you, he will translate this into behaving well—which can be fun, too.
CORPORAL REDIRECTION VERSUS CORPORAL PUNISHMENT
Here is an example of an
alternative to spanking that physically corrects misbehavior without inflicting
pain. Lauren is our family monkey; she is always climbing on things. One day
Martha walked into the kitchen to see then twenty-two-month-old Lauren standing
on the countertop sorting through the spice rack. (Rarely had she gotten to
this level in her adventures without someone intervening.) In a rapid reflexive
move, Martha swung one hand under Lauren's bottom and the other arm around her
middle as she swooped her off the countertop with a firmness and swiftness that
surprised them both, while saying something like "Not safe! You stay down!"
Lauren happened to be bare-bottomed, so the swift, firm hand made a slightly
stinging sensation on her bare skin. This registered with Lauren. She looked
closely at Martha to detect anger or intent to hurt in her mother's body
language. Finding none, she interpreted her removal as protection and
correction rather than punishment, and she cut short her howl of protest.
Martha's physical action inflicted direction, not pain. The sureness and
swiftness of the movement certainly left its mark on Lauren's mind. Lauren
learned, once again, that Martha is the parent and she is the child. To Lauren,
Martha's bigness is not a threat but a security ("Mom can rescue me because she
is big"), even though the rescues are limits to freedom that are often
frustrating to Lauren. It is very important for children to get the clear
message that their parents are in charge. With young children most of this
impression will need to be made physically. Words alone won't work.
Most discipline problems can be handled by just taking the time to assess the strength of your parent-child connection, using commonsense techniques, and trying one approach after another until you find what works. Yet there are times when you need outside help. Consider two different types of counselors. Consult experienced, happy parents whose advice you value. They can offer practical tips to make living with your child easier. You may need to dig more deeply into disciplining yourself in order to discipline your child. You may require the help of a therapist. Here are some red flags that mean you are at risk for disciplining unwisely.
While even the most healthy parent may experience one of these red flags occasionally, if you find they are becoming a routine way of life, for the sake of yourself and your child, get professional help. |
AskDrSears.com is intended to help parents become better informed consumers of health care. The information presented in this site gives general advice on parenting and health care. Always consult your doctor for your individual needs.
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