Spanking - striking a child with with an open hand on the buttocks or extremities with the intention of modifying behavior without causing physical injury. - Over 90% of American families report having used spanking as a means of discipline at some time. - There is 93% agreement in studies that spanking is harmful for children. It leads to more antisocial behavior during childhood, increased aggression, spousal abuse, and child abuse in adulthood. - Children who are slapped and spanked are twice as likely to develop alcohol addiction and other drugs problems. - A study conducted at the University of New Hampshire found that spanking can significantly damage a child's mental capabilities, and can result in a lower IQ later in life. The research team also looked at corporal punishment practices in 32 countries and found a lower average IQ in countries where spanking was more prevalent. - Another study indicated that corporal punishment slows the development of mental ability, particularly in children aged 2 to 6. It is dose-dependent. Children that are hit more often fall farther behind in cognitive development. - It is cyclical. Adults who were spanked often as children perceived it as acceptable, and frequently spanked their own children. In turn, their children advocated for spanking, and preferred aggressive conflict management with siblings and peers. - Children who experienced corporal punishment are more likely to experience sexual problems later in life, such as... -Engaging in risky sexual behavior -A greater chance of verbally or physically coercing a sexual partner -Engaging in masochistic sex - Children, aged 2 to 3, living in punitive homes scored almost 40% higher on a scale of aggressive behavior, compared to children in non-punitive homes. Children 8 to 9 years old scored 83% higher. - Corporal punishment is associated with increased levels of aggression, and is a predictor of delinquency, violence, and crime later in life. It is also a risk factor for child abuse. - Little is known about how spanking inhibits cognitive development. One possibility is that parents that hit their children are less likely to use reasoning with them. Reasoning is good for development. - All 20 (then) recent studies associated corporal punishment with an increased probability of mental health problems. - 12 of 13 (then) recent studies found corporal punishment associated with a higher probability of delinquent and antisocial behavior. - 4/5 of studies found a relation between childhood corporal punishment and later adult criminal behavior. Now listen. I used to accept the idea of hitting your children. As a child, I was struck many times (granted, my mother suffered from [i]severe[/i] mental health problems). However, the evidence suggests that striking your children has severe consequences. Furthermore, there's the moral issue. I wouldn't strike a stranger. I wouldn't strike my neighbor. I wouldn't even strike my sociopath identical twin brother. Why, then, would I ever hit a child, let alone [i]my[/i] child? I don't actually have children of my own, but I [i]definitely[/i] plan on having some (it's hard to find love in my state, since I'm not LDS). It's important to me that I can teach my kids legitimate moral reasoning, rather than the overarching rule of, "Obey authority or get hit." There's a frightening lack of moral reasoning in society. When asked why people shouldn't steal from others, only 10% of those polled drew on abstract moral reasoning to explain why stealing is wrong. The other 90% said something akin to, "Because you'll get punished." [b]TL;DR[/b] - Evidence suggests that spanking only increases behavioral problems in the short term, and will escalate in greater problems in the future. It's more important to teach your kid how to decide between what is right and wrong - moral and immoral. The rule, "Obey authority or get hit," is not an example of moral reasoning.