If you have kids, you’ve probably done it. Or at least thought about it. You ask your son to clean his room, only to have him throw a screaming fit. Or maybe you tell your daughter it’s homework time, and she responds with a sassy comment. While many parents use spanking as a way control their children, it actually has negative emotional effects that are extremely difficult to undo.
Here are 4 ways that spanking does more harm than good.
#1 - Spanking Damages A Child's Mental Health
Spanking can have long-term effects on the mental health of children. Since spanking is often perceived as unfair, it instills kids with a sense of injustice, which leads to anger. This anger, combined with a sense of humiliation, causes them to either rebel or isolate themselves. With either outcome, senses of detachment and aggression prevail, as they believe their personal rights have been violated. This then creates a sense of mistrust, not only against family members, but the world. Such detrimental thinking makes it difficult to form real relationships or feel a sense of connectedness to society. In fact, violent criminals are most likely to show a history of excessive physical discipline.#2 - Spanking Makes A Child Think Hitting Is Okay
When you spank a child, you’re modeling that behavior. And children, being highly impressionable, love to imitate. Especially people they love and respect. If a parent does it, then children reason it must be okay. But this carries over into other realms of life than simply within a parent-child relationship. It can later apply to peers, siblings, spouses, and even future children. Instead of learning healthy ways to handle an issue or unpleasant emotions, children mistakenly make the connection that using violence is an appropriate way to react. According to Dr. Sears, adults who received excessive physical punishment as teenagers were four times more likely to beat their spouses than those who did not.
