Spanking Lowers IQ, According to Study

D-d-duh, that explanes ulot . . . .

First, I have to know whether or not they excluded abused children (and children of parents who have ever been abusers) from this study. Because if not, that is going to skew the results and render them meaningless. (Duh, all the kids who are beat in the head and hide in the corner / in the streets half of the day are in the spanked group! Genius observation!)

Second, has anyone considered that smarter kids are easier to guide with verbal and abstract discipline? Maybe they have the cause and effect backwards.

Third, IQ trends downward as family size trends upward (due to various other correlated circumstances), and parents with lots of kids can't be as "patient and reasonable" with each child as parents with just one or two kids. Did this study control properly for family size and other correlating factors? And on a related note, how about the fact that people who choose not to spank are more likely to have read a lot of information about child-rearing (not necessarily formal education, but just interested in reading, etc.)? Did they control properly for that? I hope they at least controlled for the parents' true IQs.

Fourth, how come nobody's mentioning the uptick that happens with 3+ spankings? I would like to understand that, but how can I ask if I'm anti-spanking?

Obviousy I think this study and pretty much every anti-spanking study I've ever seen is flawed. I would like to see a study done that excludes all kids who (a) have ever been abused or neglected, or (b) have parents who have ever abused or neglected their child. Without such a study, we will never know whether spanking actually makes kids smarter.

My experience is that you can't do much about true IQ (assuming proper physical nurturing and a reasonably stimulating environment). But you can help a child to learn meaningful coping skills. And in this area, a well-timed spank can (for some kids) do more than many iterations of non-corporal punishments.

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I think the thing about spanking is that most people don't distinguish it from abusing your child--and yes, there is a difference between discipline and abuse, although, buy the law's definition you'd never know it. By their definition I was abused as a child because my mother spanked me with a belt. But I have to tell you, she never hit me past the age of seven or eight (or if she did I repressed it), because to me getting spanked was unpleasant, and I changed my behavior to avoid it, and that style of discipline worked for her, and for me. Who's to say it would work if I'd had a brother or sister? Time outs don't work for every kid, and if spanking your kid is the only way to get through to them, I think as a parent you have that right.

As for the statement that it affects I.Q., I don't agree with that at all. I.Q. is something is genetic, not determined by how much your parent spanks you. I was spanked, and I have a genius I.Q. But then I wasn't raised in the era where if your parents spanked you, you could call the cops on them.

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The person who put the caption under the picture was obviously spanked as a child. Then again, maybe "spaking" is a new form of discipline.

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Um, I was spanked as a child and I'm currently a student at the College of William and Mary.

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Intelligence has a high genetic component. So maybe smarter parents are less likely to spank. This would mean that the results found were nothing to do with spanking. That said I am generally against spanking.
David Robinson

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Seriously? I've taken several IQ tests, and the results are never consistant, usually ranging up or down about 10 points, depending on how clearly I was thinking at the time, how much sleep I got the night before, if I had eaten or was distracted by hunger...none of which has anything to do with how I was raised.

We are talking about AT MOST 5 extra points here...not exactly a big deal in the long run, especially when something like intelligence and a childs potential can not possibly be measured accurately.

There is nothing wrong with swatting your kid on the bottom every once in a while when they misbehave. There is a big difference between a disciplinary spanking and a beating. People need to learn some basic common sense.

Perhaps if parents were not so afraid to spank children, there would be less smart-mouthed, budding criminals having babies before they graduate high school. They would gain those extra 5 points if they actually paid attention in school.

Kids need to know that the PARENT is in control in a home, and that they CAN NOT do whatever they want, and that actions DO have consiquences--some of which might include a spanking. So what if the kid doesn't like it? It is not a parents job to be a best friend, it is a parents job to raise responsible, respectful, contributing members of society.

Having and keeping respect and authority in your home is WAY more important in the long run than a lazy, rude, criminal with few extra IQ points.

I was spanked as a child, but I barely remember it. What I do remember is the emotional abuse of being ignored and left to do whatever I wanted because my parents couldn't be bothered to spend any time with me or teach me any life skills.

Despite their ignorance, I took RESPONSABILITY for my own life and made something of myself. I have no problem with spanking, but I DO have a problem with lazy parents.

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Child buttock-battering vs. DISCIPLINE:

Child buttock-battering for the purpose of gaining compliance is nothing more than an inherited bad habit.

Its a good idea for people to take a look at what they are doing, and learn how to DISCIPLINE instead of hit.

I think the reason why television shows like "Supernanny" and "Dr. Phil" are so popular is because that is precisely what many (not all) people are trying to do.

There are several reasons why child bottom-slapping isn't a good idea. Here are some good, quick reads recommended by professionals:

Plain Talk About Spanking
by Jordan Riak,

The Sexual Dangers of Spanking Children
by Tom Johnson,

NO VITAL ORGANS THERE So They Say
by Lesli Taylor M.D. and Adah Maurer Ph.D.

Most compelling of all reasons to abandon this worst of all bad habits is the fact that buttock-battering can be unintentional sexual abuse for some children. There is an abundance of educational resources, testimony, documentation, etc that can easily be found by doing a little research with the recommended reads-visit www.nospank.net.

Just a handful of those helping to raise awareness of why child bottom-slapping isn't a good idea:

American Academy of Pediatrics,
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,
Center For Effective Discipline,
PsycHealth Ltd Behavioral Health Professionals,
Churches' Network For Non-Violence,
Nobel Peace Prize recipient Archbishop Desmond Tutu,
Parenting In Jesus' Footsteps,
Global Initiative To End All Corporal Punishment of Children,
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

In 26 countries, child corporal punishment is prohibited by law (with more in process). In fact, the US was the only UN member that did not ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

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"Child buttock-battering"

You said all I need to know about you right there, with your intentionally inflammatory language. You are like a PETA member, using the WORST and most emotion-arousing words you can for something SIMPLE that can be stated in one word, in order to sway public opinion. In other words, you are using the same DISGUSTING psychological games as tobacco companies, cereal companies, and fast food chains.

That being said, I was spanked whenever i would misbehave from about age 3 to about age 15. I have never tested below 168 on an IQ test. I am a successful business owner and a professional writer. I guess I could have ruled the world with that extra 5 points, though.

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it seems obvious that those in charge of the test were spanked a lot.

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Sometimes verbal abuse is worse than an actual spanking.
Telling a child he or she is stupid, useless and retarded can affect the rest of his life, whereas a swat on the bottm will be forgotten sooner.

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I'm an educator and a mother, grandmother too, my children were swatted sometimes but not in the same way so many of my contemporaries swatted their kids. My kids got a swat on the fatty part of their upper, bare, thigh and then only when very young. The reasons they might get a swat, chewing on an electric cord or any other truely dangerous activity. I'm talking small kids not able to reason fully that an activity is dangerous but fully able to understand that if it were to happen again that the swat would also. If the swat is accompanied by fear on mom's face and sadness the message is comunicated. Older children can be comunicated with and do respond when their caregivers take the time to listen, as well as talk, to them. By older kids I mean about the age they can ask for a cookie or are potty trained. If you have never worked with other children you would not know how easy it is to see the frustrated look some kids carry around. A boy who knows that when he gets home he will be "punished" because he spoke in class and got in trouble one more time,but this won't be the last time because now he will be even more frustrated, and angry. Soon he will be lookong for a smaller child to take it out on,,,,,

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