How do you feel about spanking your child? Some would say it’s perfectly within good parenting to spank your child when the situation calls for it. Others would say that you should never strike your child in anyway because the situation never calls for it. Well which would you say the majority of parents in the U.S. would sway?
The medical journal Pediatrics reports that 65% of young children were spanked at least once over a four-week period by one or both parents.
Dr. Catherine Taylor and her team at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine conducted a study to determine whether there was a link between parents who use corporal punishment and a condition known as ‘intimate partner aggression or violence’ or IPAV. The study involved 1,997 children, all three-years-old.
Their study revealed some of these facts:
- About 65% of the 3-year-olds were spanked once or more during the preceding month, by at least one parent.
- Of the partners who acknowledged family aggression (87%), over half reported occurrence(s) of corporal punishment and partner aggression or violence.
- If the parents were aggressive with each other, the risk of corporal punishment on the child doubles.
The researchers concluded that corporal punishment remains common in the USA, despite recommendations against its use by the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics).
Basically the study revealed the majority of families experience some sort of aggression and because of that spanking is more common than many would have thought.
What do you think about this study? Is it ever ok to spank your child?
