This is a hot topic among society today because many people were raised with a family who used spanking as a form of punishment. As many as “half of the women and three quarters of the men in the United States believe that a child sometimes needs ‘a good hard spanking'” (http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/23/health/effects-spanking-brain/index.html).
Some people believe that spanking doesn’t work for correcting rebellious behavior and a new study suggests that it may even alter the brain chemistry of those under it’s wrath. The way it does this is by literally beating the gray matter out of your child’s head by exposing them to Harsh Corporal Punishment (HCP). “Harsh corporal punishment in the study was defined as at least one spanking a month for more than three years, frequently done with objects such as a belt or paddle. Researchers found children who were regularly spanked had less gray matter in certain areas of the prefrontal cortex that have been linked to depression, addiction and other mental health disorders, the study authors say”(http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/23/health/effects-spanking-brain/index.html).
The main problem with losing the gray matter is the fact that it’s very important in a child’s development and is what also helps with self-control so when parents punish their kids for having no self-control by spanking, they are essentially making the situation worse. (http://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=11355)
The study method was as follows: “Respondents (N = 2461) participated in the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study (1998–2005), a population-based, birth cohort study of children born in 20 large US cities. Maternal reports of CP, children’s aggressive behaviors at 3 and 5 years of age, and a host of key demographic features and potential confounding factors, including maternal child physical maltreatment, psychological maltreatment, and neglect, intimate partner aggression victimization, stress, depression, substance use, and consideration of abortion, were assessed” (http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/125/5/e1057.short).
I found this study to be very interesting because if you think about it, ONE spank a MONTH is not that much, in retrospect. Some kids are punished with spanking far more than once a month which leads us to believe that there is even more brain damage done to that child. However, the problem with this study is that there are no absolute risks. It’s hard to tell exactly how much damage is done by spanking a child and whether it’s worth discontinuing the behavior for some people.
I don’t think I would spank my children to begin with, but if I were thinking about it I don’t think this study would convince me otherwise because of the fact that it’s so subjective and there could be many other contributions to the loss of gray matter in the brain. The other main problem with this study is the fact that it used volunteers as candidates to study and not people who were randomized and controlled thus leaning to potential bias and skewed results.
Bibliography
Kovac, Sarah. “Spanking the Gray Matter out of Our Kids.” CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 18 Nov. 2014. <http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/23/health/effects-spanking-brain/index.html>.
I think spanking children was definitely something that was done much more often in earlier generations than this one however, i do agree with your thoughts on this topic. It would have been interesting to see what side people are on if the study had been done at random. Having a study being done randomly helps make it less bias so I do agree on that. I have never been spanked before but have simply just been told to go to my room, and it works. It depends what type of kid you are dealing with. If they are completely out of line then saying ” go to your room” might not be the best option, but spanking them might not be either. In some cases spanking the child could make the situation worse depending on how they react.. After reading this post i learned about the gray matter in the brain and was very interested by that.
I agree with your thoughts on this topic. I think if this study was randomized that it would give a little bit more of perspective because we don’t see people who are on one side or the other. I agree that when it comes to studies being randomized it helps with less bias opinions. I personally have never been spanked before, my parents used the ole fashioned ” go to your room” and that worked on me quite fine. I think sometimes it may depend on the child and how they react to the spanking, it could make them worse or help the problem. I Know when it came to some of my friends spanking did work for them, but like I said it depends. I never knew anything about the whole gray matter in the brain and found that very interesting. Overall really great post!.