By Ivanhoe
Raising kids is a tough job, but spanking may not be the best form of punishment. Children frequently spanked scored lower on future IQ tests, according to a new study.
The researchers said parents resort to corporal punishment, unaware of its mental consequences. According to the study, the more often a child is spanked, the lower their mental development. The consequences of an occasional spanking are real, but not as severe. Researches urge the need to inform parents of spanking’s implications.
“All parents want smart children,” Murray Straus, professor at the University of New Hampshire and lead researcher, was quoted as saying. “This research shows that avoiding spanking and correcting misbehavior in other ways can help that happen.”
Straus and his team studied 806 children between ages two and four, and 704 children between five and nine years old. All children took an IQ test again four years later. The IQ of spanked children between two and four were five points lower than unspanked children. Spanked kids between five and nine scored almost three points lower.
Spanking causes emotional stress for kids, and when spanked several times weekly, can become a chronic stressor. It can lead to post-traumatic stress symptoms such as being startled easily and being afraid that awful things will occur, according to the researchers.
Spanking’s implications are not limited to the United States. Straus found nations where spanking is common have a lower national IQ.
SOURCE: Presented at the 14th International Conference on Violence, Abuse and Trauma in San Diego, California on September 25, 2009
amistechka liydenyu
mogulovsky gubenyu
duchabnamu rebenyu
shnersonyu
yes. midah kineged midah. shoplifting deserves waistlifting! serves her right! I agree with positioning the spankee in various positions or over surfaces that make their jaw drop in disbelief they are being disciplined like a child! While they are suspended for a few embarrassing moments you should discuss their behavior, and the child should think about the feeling of their pending spanking,and when they say they will behave lift them off your lap…but dont actually spank them…maybe a few mild potches…cause its enough humiliating to be positioned like that. I couldn’t phathom myself managing.. prepared in any sort of spanking… Read more »
I recall shoplifting when i was 12.My mother was so upset with me she wrapped her arm around my waist lifted me with my arms and legs dangling and placed my tummy over the customer service desk…three mild spanks..i was sobbing apologized to the clerk returned the item and never shoplifed again. i dont want myself “serviced” for misbehaving! especially tummy served over a desk!..as though i’m on sale! only food should be placed on tables not children!!!
Please explain to me why there are so many kids right here in Crown Heights who lack manners and discipline, running amok, are they getting spankings or not?? what explains their rude disgraceful behavior?
the torah aproves spanking children mildly with a retzua ketana, and adults over bar and bat mitzvah would be delivered into bet din for malkut and makat mardut in biblical times..i think they were layed out on a wooden table in public for everyone to see! (i dont believe they invented those padded chiropractor tables with the face hole to hide your nose through)!
Thumbs up!
teach others how to deal effectively with children and you will save childrens lives.
to # 30
I remember a different sicha (if I’m not mistaken acharon shel pesach 5737) where the rebbe said that since we are getting closer to Moshiach we should be Mechanech our kids in a Moshiach way and the Rebbe concluded that its self understud that when Moshiach comes we wont have to use the fear of punishments as a tool in Chinuch
good point
what’s your source?
i want to look it up
please don’t say things in the name of the rabeim without knowing the source
We once had Shabbos guests who watched one of our kids spill something at the table. The guest told me later that when it happened she cringed – just waiting for us to blow up at the kid for her clumsiness. What actually happened was that my husband asked someone to get a towel and we covered it and went on with the meal. No accusatory words were even thought of, let alone said. She said she was so impressed with this – while we were shocked she could live in a home where accusations and blame and guilt were… Read more »
Misusing your authority over children, teaches them nothing constructive. It does show them that you condone violence. It teaches them that it is ok for the strong to hurt the weak.
please get help. this is not a way to treat children.
To 24 so now you will read this? get the point?
Basically when you make stupid comments don’t say who you are!
(I hope your not using somebody else’s name, its not nice to make a fool of someone else).
children wouldnt feel embarrased,only older kids like myself. omg! I, as a mature seminary teen couldnt imagine the feeling of being suspended over my teachers knees..I would feel so vulnerable! I would squirm off his lap! …the thought alone gives me butterflies in my stomach!
PROTEST!
Only read comments with names!
It seems that many of the commentators don’t seem to be able to distinguish between a potch and abuse. At a certain point it becomes harmful. But at the right time in the correct manner it can be beneficial for a child. This is also why this research can’t actually prove anything because it also lacks this differentiation and unfortunately many parents who hit their children do not do it in an appropriate fashion.
Spanking is a lack of creativity in dealing with child rearing issues. It is not a ‘coping skill’ to be condoned. Thanks for posting this article. Hopefully it will reach someone who has not yet learned that hitting does not teach or show love.
couldnt expres myslef better.
to 13 & 18, I’m not sure what century you’re living in. But if you need to resort to such actions, you need to learn better techniques on how to communicate with a child. This not a normal method of discipline or education. children are people who deserve respect. You teach them how to treat others by the way you treat them. What kind of message are you sending them, by humiliating them in such a way. I urge you to seek advice. There are lots of ideas out there to help you raise caring responsible children.
This all needs to be placed into context. Other studies have shown, with more conclusive and provable results that “chronic stress” does affect IQ scores and devevelopmental delays due to chronically elevated levels of cortisol. This means that a child living in a stress filled or unstable home c”v will have higher levels of cortisol which impedes their cognitive development. There is a BIG difference between a potch with a hand or the use of a paddle or a belt or a hard ear pinch. I think the potch will hurt less than that ear pinch. Does she think that… Read more »
similar to the akeida its considered he was sacrificed just by being placed on mizbeach. I agree its so embarrasing when your tummy is placed over a teachers lap in front of friends! or laying on the table with your nose pressed firmly against it! behavior tends to improve immediately after such an embarrassing preparation!!! so no spanking needed.
Brilliant point.
I know you would like to feel you have it all figured out (which is not a bad thing BTW) but i think its a little more complex than the way you put it. there are many theory’s regarding this topic and allot of them result from tests made with children. and BTW being emotionally healthy is quite a relative term, do you think someone who seems to have no emotional problems is a result of him being “emotionally healthy” or just simply because he never really developed any complex emotions (which might be quite rewarding at times), just a… Read more »
The Rebbe said in passing: “Men darf zogen di elteren az zei darfen ufheren shmaisen di kinder.” I don’t remember the context (it was a maamar hamusgar) or the exact farbrengen. I do remember it was in the Hanocho. Anyway, this report is no great chidush. If a parent feels the need to spank (except in case of dire emergency) to control the child, there is already something wrong. Parents need to communicate with children and feel empathy. This doesn’t mean that the child can never do wrong or is an “angel”. It does mean that the parents need to… Read more »
Children with lower IQ, are more frequently spanked!
you dont need to spank, just the embarrasing position of being placed over the knee or spread on a table is enough, and then lift them off!!
The cycle works like this: #1 you are hit as a child and told that this will make you into a Mentch #2 you grow up (with problems without realizing that they have any connection with the Petch you got many years earlier, and you come out) convinced that if a child is not spanked he will grow up to be a criminal. #3 when you get angry at your child you hit him (and of course you claim that you were not angry your just “disciplining “ –and you make sure he also is convinced that without these petch… Read more »
If you spank your kids you raise the chances that they will hate you.
and spoil the child
Yelling at kids is just as bad as hitting.
Parents with tempers can learn how to express themselves without hurting their kids.
I suppose for parents who beat the **** out of their kids this may have some effect. On the other hand, it won’t have any effect for parents who beat the **** out of their kids. In the end, violence begets violence & that has nothing to do with brains. They say Ted Bundy was a genius.
It’s better to guide through good examples, sholom bayis, & agreement on how to raise & discipline children.
the frierdike rebbe writes that a child should know that there is a paddle on the wall,but the parent should never use it.
no spanking kids .parents do not spank kids it hurts
Unfortunately to many parents it is a chidush, and you would be surprised how many primitive parents there are in our community who hit their kids, There are so many discussions about what to do about the situation that so many children are leaving the Derech, and for some reason I don’t see that people discuss the real cause which is that these teenagers were hit as children. There are many kids having big problems in school and I don’t see that teachers even think of the possibility that these children are dealt with harshly at home. So for parents… Read more »
Spanking when needed with love creates healthy law abiding children, spanking without love and no spankings at all create a full jail, being a parent is a full time job and requires different tools at different times to discipline children.
Is this supposed to be a chiddush?
So how come my kids aren’t illuyim? We don’t believe in spanking & despite some real provocation at times, we didn’t hit our kids. They all turned out to be great adults, polite, well-behaved & FRUM. They did OK in school, too! And in the end, grades don’t really matter. Midos do.
This report is a waste of money & a waste of time.
tell her that pinching ears cause social trama for children!