Why Parents Should Not Spank Their Children

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Why Parents Should not Spank their Children? Spanking has been a highly controversial topic throughout the years due to is link to many developmental effects. Spanking means hitting a person, usually a child, on the buttocks with an open hand. (Gershoff, 2013) Many people believe that spanking is a form of discipline that is used to correct a child’s behavior. However, research shows that spanking negatively alters children’s behavior, can increase mental health issues and aggressiveness in childhood as well as adulthood, but also that there are safer ways to deal with these behaviors. One of the biggest concerns about spanking is that it can cause mental health issues; including depression, anxiety, stress, etc.…Health Care providers should talk to parents and warn them about these possible issues if they chose this method as a way of discipline. Parents need to know that spanking does more harm than good. Researchers in Canada found that up to 7 percent of a range of mental health disorders were associated with physical punishment, including spanking, shoving, grabbing or hitting, during childhood (Gray, 2012, p.1). According the Gray, Barbara (2012) Corporal punishment was associated with increased odds of anxiety and mood disorders, including…show more content…
Many Countries have put a stop to spanking completely and opted for educating parents and teaching them safer ways to deal with children’s behaviors. In Sweden, the government outlawed corporal punishment in 1979 and operated an extensive education program to move parents away from corporal punishment. Rates of child abuse have lowered since Sweden’s banning of corporal punishment. According to Knox, (2010) Professional organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the National Association of Social Workers have all advised against Corporal Punishment, suggesting that parents use other approaches such

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