Professor's Research Suggests Not Sparing the Rod

[napi21]

http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2010/01/professors-research-suggests-n.php

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (RNS) While timeouts and other disciplinary methods are encouraged by some child psychologists, a Calvin College psychology professor says her research shows corporal punishment forms more well-adjusted people later in life.

Marjorie Gunnoe says the study finds children who remember being spanked on the backside with an open hand do better in school, perform more volunteer work and are more optimistic than others who were not physically disciplined.

"This in no way should be thought of as a green light for spanking," said Gunnoe, who has studied spanking for more than a decade.

Her research contradicts claims that spanked children are more aggressive and have other detrimental consequences.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Beg to differ.

My old man gave me only one spanking in my life when I was under 3. I lied about brushing my teeth. The next thing I knew, I was swiftly picked up, put across a set of knees and really hard swats replete with anger and hostility.

I never got past that and to this day while I understand it, I also resent it and him for doing it. Overkill.

I might have a different attitude had I run into busy traffic. I don't know.

[Fridays Child]

2. I remain confident...

...that discipline through violence is morally reprehensible and will only have negative results--for the perpetrator and the victim, and for society.

[NNN0LHI]

3. There can be unintended consequences though

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,977079-1,00.html

When Kids Kill Abusive Parents

By Anastasia Toufexis;Hannah Bloch/New York and Jeanne McDowell/Los Angeles Monday, Nov. 23, 1992

In the tiny community of Cement, Oklahoma, trees and telephone poles are festooned with pink ribbons. People work tirelessly to collect signatures on petitions. The activity is in support of Billie Joe Powell, a 16-year-old girl charged with fatally shooting her father, who had allegedly abused her. Townspeople hope their efforts will help persuade the court to try the high school sophomore not as an adult but as a juvenile, so that she will receive more lenient treatment.

A few years ago, such sympathy would have been unheard of. Children who killed their parents were the ultimate pariahs. Regarded as evil or mentally ill "bad seeds," they virtually always earned the harshest judgment of the public and the courts. Says psychologist and attorney Charles Patrick Ewing of the State University of New York at Buffalo: "We take the commandment to 'honor thy father and thy mother' very seriously. The implication is that you're supposed to honor your parents even if they abuse you."

That attitude is slowly starting to change. Today youngsters who slay abusive parents are drawing more understanding from a public that has awakened to the national nightmare of child abuse. Last year an estimated 2.7 million youngsters were physically, mentally and sexually assaulted by their parents, according to the National Center for Prevention of Child Abuse. Despite the prevalence of abuse, parricide remains rare. It accounts for about 2% of all homicides, around 300 cases a year. Most of those involve teenagers who kill abusive parents. Though the numbers are small, these youngsters "open a window on our understanding of child abuse in a way that no one else can," says Los Angeles lawyer Paul Mones, whose practice is devoted to defending children accused of parricide. "They allow us to understand how abuse is incubated."

Sons are more likely than daughters to strike back violently. "Men by and large tend to act outwards and be more aggressive," says Ronald Ebert, senior forensic psychologist at McLean's Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts. "Girls tend to internalize pain and blame themselves more." Abused girls often become bulimic or suicidal.

[Happyhippychick]

4. I've heard it works well on uppity housewives as well.

:sarcasm:

[rainy]

5. I call BS. I know many of my friends and neighbors who never spanked and

all of our children are doing very well. I never laid a hand on my girls, now 18 and 19 and they are very well adjusted. My oldest is in her second year at UVA and got straight A's this past semester. My other is a senior and got honor roll.

I on the other hand was spanked, dragged by the hair and hit. I am not as well adjusted.

I guess it's an overall feeling of being loved that really matters along with compassion. Beating and hitting are not compassionate forms of discipline. A spank might be ok.

[Warpy]

6. Depends on the kid, depends on the circumstances

I can see an open handed swat on a diaper the second time a toddler runs out into traffic or chews on an electrical cord. Those kids don't understand language and a swat that makes noise without causing real pain can get their attention fast and convince them that whatever they're doing is a really bad idea.

Once the kid understands language, spanking is largely inappropriate.

I have a feeling this guy got the results he was looking for.

[Joanne98]

7. They're trying to create more conservative hater adults!

The Japanese don't spank their children until they're 7 years old and they have some of the best behaved children in the world.

[Jackpine Radical]

8. It's Calvin College, people.

She would probably be denied tenure if she found that spanking DOESN"T work.

Here's another little story from Calvin College that shows you just what a bastion of free thought and academic excellence it is:

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/08/calvin_college_professors_call.html

GRAND RAPIDS -- Calvin College professors say they want a campus discussion about academic freedom after being told it is "unacceptable" for them to advocate for homosexual issues and same-sex marriage.
College employees received a memo last week saying the Board of Trustees has revisited issues surrounding the college's position on homosexuality, concluding it is "unacceptable" for faculty and staff to teach, write or advocate on behalf of the issue.

[invictus]

9. Bull shit

[Berry Cool]

10. I am so sick of the "but what would you do if a toddler ran out into traffic?" excuse

as a justification for spanking.

If your toddler is in a situation in which he or she can easily run out into traffic in the first place, something is really, really wrong (if the kid even does it once, it may be too late for any kind of punishment to help). And what is a swat on the butt going to achieve that a series of really sharp, loud, screechingly memorable "NO!s" (especially if the child is made to stand there and look at your angry, upset face for a while) will not?

Oh, and chewing on electrical cords? I had a kitten that did that. Put Tabasco on my cords. End of problem--and no, the Tabasco did no harm, it was just unpleasant enough to break her of the habit permanently. Swatting her would have done no good, and I don't think I will find a person here who will say I should have hit my kitten.

In fact, decent people look down pretty strongly on the hitting of animals, don't we? Yet we claim to "have to" spank toddlers when they get into dangerous situations because we have no way of communicating with them verbally. Well, we don't with animals either, but we don't hit them regularly to get them to not do dangerous things. When's the last time you spanked a dog for running out into traffic?

[cali]

11. Agreed, though my solution for dealing with my kid in the city when he was

a daring toddler, will surely meet with disapproval: I put him in a halter with a lead.

[NNN0LHI]

15. Bet the child beaters are also animal beaters

They don't say it but you just know it.

Don

[cali]

16. I never spanked my kid, but I think it's absurd to claim that every parent

who has ever given their child a swat on the butt, is a "beater"- and not only a "beater" but an animal abuser as well.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

12. Calvin College is an evangelical school

so you have to take their research with a grain of salt.

[DavidDvorkin]

13. Based on memories of childhood

That's not what I would call reliable data.

[bemildred]

14. Physical restraint is sometimes necessary, hitting is not. nt

[TexasObserver]

17. She's teaches at a Calvinist College, named after John Calvin.

Well, of course, she likes to be spanked! Probably lives her life in constant guilt, too.

I'm reminded of that ridiculous Bible school in Alabama or Mississippi - Heritage College or University. Like "Heritage Foundation," it's a rightwing, Bible thumping school that turns out "college graduates."

These church schools should be able to issue preaching credentials but not real degrees.

[Fumesucker]

18. "Sparing the rod" is a Biblical thing and comes from the shepherd's rod..

Shepherds do not use the rod to hit the sheep but rather to guide them..