Smacking Your Kids Is Good!

1.       Intro

·         Is there a potential link between the dramatic uptick in behavioral disorders and the increased abandoning of spanking? The time frames kind of line up but then you've also got the glyphosate in round up and endless chemicals in foods and toxins exposed to and vaccines and antibiotics that nuke gut bacteria but who’s to say?

·         You’ll find many verses in the Bible especially Proverbs about physical discipline being important to teach discipline. Again, purely correlational but in an increasingly secular world it’s probably coincidence that everyone is being diagnosed as clinically undisciplined.

·         Has science disproved ancient wisdom or is this much like the "scientific wisdom" on saturated fat and sodium that turned out to be supported by nothing but misleading claims and vested interests? Where organizations with conflicts of interest roll over in support of unsubstantiated theories?

2.       The Science

·         The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and American Psychological Association (APA) made official statements opposing all spanking relying primarily on a meta-analysis by Gershoff & Grogan-Kaylor. Around the same time, 2 articles came out at the end of 2018 documenting the inadequacies of this meta-analysis. 55% of the studies failed to measure outcome after the spanking. Also, it didn’t adjust statistically for preexisting child differences on the outcome variable, they used a bivariate comparison. They didn’t specifically investigate customary or open hand spanking. When doing it properly like this, one would replicate the results of 2 other meta-analyses that have been done.

·         Meaning…most published meta-analyses of child outcomes of physical punishment do not oppose all spanking. Only Gershoff’s. And this was the one they rely most heavily on. The one that is the most methodologically flawed. The authors of the other meta-analyses all conclude that results do not sufficiently indicate any risk of harm from spanking. And that it even was preferable over 10 of 13 alternative tactics. There is Paolucci & Violato 2004 and Larzelere & Kuhn 2005 and Ferguson 2013 and Larzelere, Gunnoe, Ferguson 2018. 

3.       Discussion

·         Trying to link long-term detrimental harm to spanking seems unwise and self-refuting as a 2014 report shows that worldwide 80% of people have been spanked and yet we do not see that 80% of people are dysfunctional on par to what is being claimed. Is this just a crazy paradox in an otherwise amazing theory on spanking? Or is it possibly confirmation that spanking is being equivocated with actual abuse? You see, those who call an open-handed slap on the bum ‘abuse’ are being very lazy and dishonest by lumping that in with a parent who resents a child and/or lacks emotional control (and this is just what the studies that demonstrate harm are doing!) A parent who slaps a kid’s bum actually can and often does love that child and wants the best for it. This is true and yet hard to accept for those who think with their hearts.

·         What the studies do show is exactly what you would expect. A spank that comes as a last resort after milder tactics such as timeout, reasoning or removal of privileges end up making those milder tactics more effective later. Meaning the more willing you are to smack, the less likely you will need to. And the less willing you are, the more likely you’ll end up needing to.

·         And that makes sense. If you don’t smack, your child will soon realize all you have is words and then louder words. Then they will dominate you. The notion of soft parenting and not smacking isn’t based in science, it’s rooted in an unspoken, fundamentally flawed philosophical view of human nature. That we are ‘blank slates’. That humans are only bad because of bad influences. These types think kids just shoot out of the womb ready to accept a selfless moral code because you explained it nicely to them. But this is false, and you can see it everywhere that when children are left to their own devices without guidance, they do not turn out amazing. Humans are inclined towards evil. People are repulsed by that word but you can choose your own synonym. Evil, selfishness, self-centeredness, we are wired for our own survival. There’s a reason babies come out so small and weak because they are self-absorbed tyrants. And it’s the parent's job to reign that in as they get bigger and stronger.

·         Yet another problem with alternative methods is that they are not realistic of the world. In life, the real world hits you harder than any parent ever could. The world does not dish out nice and neat little timeouts. Well actually it does but that is called prison. The world doesn't offer little treats and rewards for baseline behavior. It does for proactive and real work though.

 ·         If a parent refuses to smack out of principle, often times they create a little monster that stresses them out to the point that they actually do smack them. But by that time the smack will not be measured and appropriate and this is exactly what Pediatric senior lecturer Richard Hain says in his response to Tony Waterston. “Perhaps…for many parents smacking is not a measured or consistent strategy. Instead, it is a last resort when control is lost. It is this element of unpredictable, irrational, and potentially uncontrolled violence that is dangerous in smacking, rather than the smack itself.” And points out that a law change would not change this occurrence other than to increase it.

·         Hain also points out the potential lesson that emotional withdrawal and timeouts cause. “I won’t love you if you’re naughty.” And he is one of the many experts to point to the major problem of not distinguishing between abuse and spanking. The Amercian Academy of Pediatrics consensus conference had the express goal of developing consensus statements regarding the scientific evidence of short and long term effects of spanking. And when they defined abuse and spanking properly, a consensus could NOT be reached. This is all according to pediatrician Den A. Trumbull who participated. After Larzelere presented his findings however, the conference chairpersons concluded “given a relatively ‘healthy’ family life in a supportive environment, spanking in and of itself is not detrimental to a child or predictive of later problems…there is a lack of research related to the use of corporal punishment.” 

·         Anti spanking advocate Tony Waterston even admits there is no evidence that occasional smacking is harmful.

·         Most people really don’t know what they are talking about when it comes to this. In one article by The Conversation they say smacking doesn’t lead to obedience then they say it might lead to obedience but only out of fear of punishment. Yes...that is the point! That’s exactly the goal of the parent implementing it. It just happens to be the case that the parent is comfortable choosing the child’s momentary pain over a lifetime of undisciplined self-created pain.  

4.       Conclusion

·         So why did the APA and AAP make the statements against ALL spanking and cherry pick from literature? Well I haven’t gone into it all yet but you could start theorizing for yourself after looking at the work of Senior Lecturer at Harvard Marcia Angell. There are some terrible links between big pharma and authoritative bodies that are supposed to be helpful. As much as I want to give them the benefit of the doubt, the task force they created-to disseminate their opinion on spanking-started approaching the media before the literature had even been assessed!

If you don't want to say not smacking is the problem then what else is there? Chemicals in the food? Social media? If that's what you think then start there!

·         Also, would love to mention how unfortunate it is to live in a world where studies are locked behind paywalls. The authorities that we are expected to trust are being more vocal about the problem of mis and disinformation and yet they won’t let us freely look at primary source material??  

Spanking is like chicken pox, it's uncomfortable but if you don't face it as a kid, it may cause serious problems later in life.

5.       Sources

·         Tony Waterston (Anti) Jan 2000 Giving guidance on child discipline: Physical punishment works no better than other methods and has adverse effects - PMC

·         A review of Waterston by multiple authors Child discipline: Weak evidence for a smacking ban - PMC

·         Elizabeth Gershoff (Anti) 1999 ‘The effects of parental corporal punishment on children: a meta-analytic review.

·         Robert Larzelere (Pro) 1996 ‘A review of the outcomes of parental use of nonabusive or customary physical punishment’

·         Scientific Evidence Supports Customary and Backup (Conditional) Spanking by Parents: Update of Larzelere and Baumrind (2010) and Fuller (2009) by Robert Larzelere, Jason Fuller :: SSRN