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You have probably heard the expression, "Spare the rod, spoil the child." Do you agree with it? Perhaps you were spanked as a kid. Was it appropriate? Some people see spanking as an outdated method of punishment or even child abuse, while others view a swat on the bottom as a parent's prerogative. Where do we draw the line when it comes to disciplining our children?
If you had taken the time to read what Rosemond writes, cites, and condones/admonishes in his writing (books), then you would notice that there are accompanying citations (they site research and studies that have been done)... that's firstly. That refutes the baseless claim of lack of facts and/or verifiable experience from which to draw. Secondly -- and again, something that would have been understood had you taken the time to check out what you were disagreeing with before actually stating that it was flawed-- is that he does not specifically condone spanking . He views it as a viable child-rearing tool, but one that should be reserved for specific cases where you need to get the child's attention as they are losing control. (Tantrum, etc) Also that is caveated with a general-type guideline for use, stating that once a child is four or older, it theoretically shouldn't be happening much more than once a month. He specifically argues the widely-accepted belief that spanking is a child-rearing philosophy in and of itself. He examines the Biblical teaching that addresses sparing the rod and comes to the (well-researched) conclusion that the rod does NOT in fact refer to physically punishing the child. Next time, I would highly advise checking out your facts before making such an uninformed claim. -Maria
- etomaria
January 20, 2009 10:00PM
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*He specifically argues *against* the widely-accepted belief that spanking is a child-rearing philosophy in and of itself...
I accidently put "argues", which makes it sound like he advocates it. Just for clarification.
- etomaria January 20, 2009 10:37PM
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No Evidence Supports the Spanking Hysteria
- From Anonymous Expert
By Anonymous Expert - Parenting Expert
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Here is a reference to all the research on spanking
Rosemond dismisses all the research that faults spanking with a wave of his hand, saying the researchers are biased or by labeling them as "liberal" or "ersatz." Yet Dr. Elizabeth Gersoff, a highly respected professor at the University of MIchigan, has published, in a respected peer-reviewed scientific journal, a "meta-analysis" of spanking studies. This is an analysis of hundreds of previously published research studies on the topic, done to see if there is a coherent, conclusionary finding. The answer, the research does indeed show harm from spanking. Here is the evidence: Gershoff, E.T. (2002). Parental corporal punishment and associated child behaviors and experiences: A meta-analytic and theoretical review. Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 128, p539-579. Game over. The most solid studies out there are consistent, we should not be hitting kids, ever.
- Dr Robert Fathman
August 1, 2008 6:36AM
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Plenty of credible, unbiased research
The vast majority of research shows serious problems associated with hitting children, especially increased aggression and anti-social behavior.
Dr. Straus is a very principled researcher who has studied the effects of corporal punishment on tens of thousands of children. Check out his website at the University of New Hampshire at Durham if you doubt his integrity. There are many other fine researchers as well, such as Dr. Harriet McMillan, Dr. Elizabeth Gershoff, Dr. Roy Herrenkohl, and Dr. Joan Durrant. Here's a study by McMillan Rosemond should look at, entitled "Slapping and spanking in childhood and its association with lifetime prevalence of psychiatric disorders". This study shows increased anxiety and alcohol abuse among teenagers and adults who were physically punished as children. Rosemond, in order to justify his claim of being a psychologist, needs to face the truth of this and other important studies.
- SojournerTruth
August 2, 2008 5:37PM
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EVidence
Rosemond claims that there is no evidence of the negative effects of spanking. Yet every single national pediatric, psycholoical, psychiatric and medical professional association in the entire western world disagrees with him. Don't take my word for it - look up what they say online. Are all these orgnaizations stacked with individuals with idealogical axes to grind? Or might Rosemond have an ideological axe to grind?
- Greg1 August 7, 2008 6:32AM
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It depends
Children are very different in many ways. They have different thoughts from us. What they understand and what we understand are totally different. Parents know the reason why they spank their children, but only some higher-ability children will link up the spanking to what they had just done. Some children do not understand, and thus resulting to misunderstandings between the child and the parent, resulting in the child thinking that the parent spanks for nothing, creating a fear for the parents.
Some parents also need to control their feelings when they spank. Some do spank too much. Being an expert debating about accepting spanking children, you do know better how to spank your children and what is enough for the child to understand. Therefore, your observations of your own children may not be reliable. The best way, without taking the risk of the child fearing the parents because he cannot understand why, is to explain to the child that he should not do that, instead of spanking.
- Rainie August 13, 2008 2:10AM
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It depends is right
You are right. It does depend. I have two children and both have been spanked as a means of punishment. Neither of them were ever spanked until they could understand that the spanking was connected with what they did wrong. They are never spanked in anger and never spanked for something they did wrong hours and hours ago. They are also not ever spanked for just any thing they do wrong. I said that to say this, Both of my boys are of the higher ability children that you speak of. My 5 year old functions on the level of a 4th grader and my 7 year old funtions on the level of a 6th grader. I attribute that to the fact that they have the uttermost of my wife and I's attention to them and to the fact that they are taught in a Private School. They have in no way been damaged by the fact that they have been spanked.
- UltraConservative November 4, 2008 10:20PM
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Children's minds
The problem here is that parents should not leave it up to the child to "link up the spanking to what they had just done." Spanking a child and not telling them why they were just spanked IS confusing and wrong. One does not have to be an expert to know to spank a child, and spanking is not a substitute for explaining what a child did wrong. Any time my father spanked me, he asked, "Do you know why I had to spank you?". Then he would explain what I had done wrong and why he had to punish me. I may not have understood why I was being spanked at first, but after he explained, I not only knew what I had done wrong, I also knew what the consequences of my actions were. If children's minds are capable of understanding why not to do something, they are capable of understanding that spanking is the consequence of their action.
- nclark
January 25, 2009 11:30PM
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The eyes of a child
While I have read the research and am impressed by the very clear connection between corporal punishment and a variety of negative outcomes, the single most compelling evidence against spanking comes from a questions my then three year old asked the first time he witnessed corporal punishment. One day in a museum he saw a parent spank a child and scold them for climbing. He was utterly shocked and made comments for the rest of the day. "How could that mama hit her baby?" "why wouldn't she just explain to him what he did wrong?" "parents aren't supposed to hurt their kids" "that mommy was mad and she should have taken a break, she made a mistake".
So much for kids not seeing spanking as a form of hitting. It was entirely clear to our son that hitting is hitting. It is mistaken, lazy parenting and kids deserve better.
- barbz September 16, 2008 1:26PM
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Perhaps you should present your thesis to the following
Do you feel you have more information on the subject than just a few mentioned here? Personally, I am curious as to why you feel the need to safegaurd such a bad habit?
American Acadamy of Pediatrics
Straus,Murray Co-Director of the
Family Research Laboratory at the
University of New Hampshire
UNESCO
Alvin Poussaint, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School. From "Spanking Strikes Out" , 1999.
The United Nations (Convention on
the Rights of the Child)
MedHeadlines
Spanking Kids Causes Sexual
Problems, February 29, 2008
Greven,Philip,Professor at
Rutgers University,Aggression and
Delinquency,(1990),
Global Initiative to End All
Corporal Punishment of Children
To name just a few
- PDeverit
May 5, 2009 5:38PM
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