What should you spank your child with

Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Spanking is a widely debated topic. Most experts advise against using corporal punishment, but some parents believe that spanking is an effective discipline strategy.

Other parents admit they have occasionally spanked their child—especially when they were feeling overly stressed. Whichever camp they belong to, all parents need to know and closely consider the potential consequences of physical punishment, including spanking.

Sometimes, parents spank their children out of desperation. Without a consistent discipline strategy, it might feel like spanking is the best option. While spanking may alter behavior in the short-term, it rarely has a positive effect in the long term. Studies have shown that spanking is ineffective and has detrimental consequences on child development.

Parents may rely on spanking to "fix" behavior problems without trying alternative discipline strategies—or giving those options enough time to work. Another common reason parents spank is out of exasperation, impulse, or anger. A parent who reacts out of frustration "I can't believe you just did that!

If you don't know how else to discipline your child, spanking might become the first line of defense. While it might feel like a solution at the moment, spanking won't solve the problem or teach your child better behavior. Many parents later regret striking their children.

Spanking can also cause lasting damage to the parent-child relationship. Various cultural groups have historically held the belief that spanking is part of their upbringing and cultural background. However, the negative impact remains the same. Also, corporal punishment habits are the residual impact of colonialism that has been adopted by many cultural groups. There is some historical evidence of Black and Brown families being engaged with corporal punishment.

The AAP is an influential professional association that represents some 67, pediatricians across the country. In a poll , about half of parents under the age of 36 reported having spanked their own children.

While spanking may create a sense of fear in the child in that moment, it will not improve behavior over the long term, experts say. In fact, regular spanking normalizes the act of hitting and can lead to aggressive behavior that encourages continued conflict between the parent and child. Estrella says. In its statement, the AAP also condemned verbal abuse, explaining that yelling in a way that insults, humiliates or shames a child also has negative effects on brain development.

The AAP recommends three steps to effectively disciplining a child:. Be a role model. Make it a priority to remain calm, with the understanding that your child looks to you to be an example of how to behave.

Set rules and limits that can be enforced consistently among all caretakers. Make sure that rules are verbalized using age-appropriate language. Constantly praise and celebrate good behaviors. Give attention to behaviors that you want your child to repeat.

If you make a mistake, don't be afraid to admit it and to tell him you're sorry. He'll be more likely to grow up into the kind of adult you're proud of.

Hyman: Jossey-Bass. Shure, Pocket Books. D, with Joan Declaire: Simon and Schuster. Shure: Pocket Books. Kesey, Ed. Berkeley Publishing Group. CDC , Felitti and Anda, Family Research Laboratory. Child Trends Databank. Attitudes Towards Spanking. University of Michigan Health System. Spanking out, talking in: Most parents opt to talk with misbehaving kids. Acquire the license to the best health content in the world. Should I spank my child? Spanking may seem like a direct and effective way to do that, but it delivers other messages you don't want to send: Fear.

Spanking teaches your child to fear you -- not to listen to you or respect you. He may also be humiliated and resentful, and retaliate by being uncooperative. The result: You'll be less able to reason with and set effective limits for your child. Spanking teaches your child that when he make mistakes, you'll punish him rather than give sympathetic guidance.

It erodes trust and disrupts the bond between you and your child that will allow him to be confident and flourish. Might makes right. If you spank, your child may learn that violence is an acceptable way to solve problems.

Not surprisingly, perhaps, studies show that kids who are spanked are more likely to hit and fight with other children. Studies also show that children who are hit are more likely to become violent adults. Poor self-esteem. Many studies have shown that hitting your child can hurt more than his body: It can injure his sense of self.

He may reason that if he weren't such a bad boy, he wouldn't get hit. Studies by the late psychologist Irwin Hyman and colleagues at Temple University have shown that regardless of how nurturing a family is, spanking always lowers self-esteem.

Spanking can be physically dangerous, especially if you hit harder than you intended. Sometimes spanking can bruise a child, leave hematomas blood blisters , or injure soft tissue; some kids have even been hospitalized because of it. But if I was spanked and I'm okay, why shouldn't I spank my kids? But what's the harm in a little smack? What if I just shake my child instead?