Spanking May Lower Kids IQ

[MsAmanda]

hmmm enlightening read. This Deactur BOE needs to review this article.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20090925/hl_hsn/s...

FRIDAY, Sept. 25 (HealthDay News)-- The bad news is that youngsters who are spanked might lose IQ points.

The good news is that it appears that children's IQs are on the rise -- and at least one expert believes that part of the reason why is that corporal punishment is falling out of favor in the United States and elsewhere.

That's the view of discipline and domestic violence expert Murray Straus, a professor of sociology and co-director of the Family Research Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire. Straus was scheduled to present the findings from recent research on spanking on Friday at the International Conference on Violence, Abuse and Trauma in San Diego.

The results of a survey of more than 17,000 university students from 32 countries "show that the higher the percent of parents who used corporal punishment, the lower the national average IQ," Straus wrote in his presentation.

In looking at spanking just in the United States, Straus and a fellow researcher reviewed data on IQ scores from 806 children between 2 and 4 years old and another 704 kids aged 5 to 9.

When their IQs were tested again four years later, children in the younger group who were not spanked scored five points higher, on average, than did children who had been spanked. In the group of older children, spanking resulted in an average loss of 2.8 points.

"How often parents spanked made a difference," Straus said in a news release from the university. "The more spanking, the slower the development of the child's mental ability. But even small amounts of spanking made a difference."

Dr. Rahil Briggs, a child psychologist with the Children's Hospital at Montefiore in New York City, said she believes that "discipline should be an opportunity to teach your child something."

"If you spank, you teach your child that hitting is the way to deal with a situation," she said. "But if you use other methods of discipline, you can begin teaching your child higher-level cognitive skills, self-control, cause-and-effect and logical thinking."

Briggs said that previous research has clearly shown that when children are in negative stressful situations, it can actually change the architecture of their brains and impair certain neural processes.

Dr. Stephen Ajl, a child abuse pediatrician, director of pediatric ambulatory care at the Brooklyn Hospital Center and medical director of the Jane Barker Brooklyn Children's Advocacy Center in New York City, said that "spanking and other forms of corporal punishment mean that someone has lost control, and if that goes on on a chronic basis, it may affect some part of children's psychological well-being."

And though some people believe that they can use spanking as a form of punishment without losing control, Briggs said that's very difficult to do all the time.

"When you're physical with your child, you open that floodgate, and the likelihood that it could veer into where you don't have as much control increases," Briggs said. "Plus, if you're just spanking, you haven't taught your child anything."

Straus's presentation at the violence conference was also to include findings from the study of university students, done by researchers in 32 countries. It found that in nations with decreasing use of corporal punishment, the countries' average IQ scores rose.

Those findings are plausible and make some sense, Briggs said, but she added that it's difficult to tease out all the other factors that could play a role in IQ scores -- including poverty and parental education.

Ajl recommended that parents think about how they want to discipline they're children before they're faced with a situation. And, he said, a pediatrician can help parents come up with more effective ways to discipline their children.

[scream]

MsAmanda wrote:

hmmm enlightening read. This Deactur BOE needs to review this article.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20090925/hl_hsn/s...
FRIDAY, Sept. 25 (HealthDay News)-- The bad news is that youngsters who are spanked might lose IQ points.
The good news is that it appears that children's IQs are on the rise -- and at least one expert believes that part of the reason why is that corporal punishment is falling out of favor in the United States and elsewhere.
That's the view of discipline and domestic violence expert Murray Straus, a professor of sociology and co-director of the Family Research Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire. Straus was scheduled to present the findings from recent research on spanking on Friday at the International Conference on Violence, Abuse and Trauma in San Diego.
The results of a survey of more than 17,000 university students from 32 countries "show that the higher the percent of parents who used corporal punishment, the lower the national average IQ," Straus wrote in his presentation.
In looking at spanking just in the United States, Straus and a fellow researcher reviewed data on IQ scores from 806 children between 2 and 4 years old and another 704 kids aged 5 to 9.
When their IQs were tested again four years later, children in the younger group who were not spanked scored five points higher, on average, than did children who had been spanked. In the group of older children, spanking resulted in an average loss of 2.8 points.
"How often parents spanked made a difference," Straus said in a news release from the university. "The more spanking, the slower the development of the child's mental ability. But even small amounts of spanking made a difference."
Dr. Rahil Briggs, a child psychologist with the Children's Hospital at Montefiore in New York City, said she believes that "discipline should be an opportunity to teach your child something."
"If you spank, you teach your child that hitting is the way to deal with a situation," she said. "But if you use other methods of discipline, you can begin teaching your child higher-level cognitive skills, self-control, cause-and-effect and logical thinking."
Briggs said that previous research has clearly shown that when children are in negative stressful situations, it can actually change the architecture of their brains and impair certain neural processes.
Dr. Stephen Ajl, a child abuse pediatrician, director of pediatric ambulatory care at the Brooklyn Hospital Center and medical director of the Jane Barker Brooklyn Children's Advocacy Center in New York City, said that "spanking and other forms of corporal punishment mean that someone has lost control, and if that goes on on a chronic basis, it may affect some part of children's psychological well-being."
And though some people believe that they can use spanking as a form of punishment without losing control, Briggs said that's very difficult to do all the time.
"When you're physical with your child, you open that floodgate, and the likelihood that it could veer into where you don't have as much control increases," Briggs said. "Plus, if you're just spanking, you haven't taught your child anything."
Straus's presentation at the violence conference was also to include findings from the study of university students, done by researchers in 32 countries. It found that in nations with decreasing use of corporal punishment, the countries' average IQ scores rose.
Those findings are plausible and make some sense, Briggs said, but she added that it's difficult to tease out all the other factors that could play a role in IQ scores -- including poverty and parental education.
Ajl recommended that parents think about how they want to discipline they're children before they're faced with a situation. And, he said, a pediatrician can help parents come up with more effective ways to discipline their children.

Bull butter.

[Clay Roads]

What a load of crap! The generations past that put a man on the moon and invented every modern device we know of got their butt whipped when they needed it, at home and at school. If you don't want to spank your kids don't. If you don't want the school to spank them, sign the paper. Quit trying to make rules for everyone else.

[modern mom]

I discipline my kids by use of "time out" and sometimes if they are disorderly I count to 3 or 10 to give them an opportunity to straighten up.

[msamanda]

Clay Roads wrote:

Quit trying to make rules for everyone else.

WOW I was thinking the same thing!!

[Old School]

modern mom wrote:

I discipline my kids by use of "time out" and sometimes if they are disorderly I count to 3 or 10 to give them an opportunity to straighten up.

I agree with the time out call. The parent should "take time out" to spank their butts when they need it. Look at the respectful children of past generations, then compare that with what is going on today all because of the silly ass mentality some people currently believe in.

[modern mom]

Hey Old School, don't you think that spanking might be promoting violence? Those spanked kids will probably grow up to be wife beaters and child abusers.

[mom-and educator]

modern mom wrote:

Hey Old School, don't you think that spanking might be promoting violence? Those spanked kids will probably grow up to be wife beaters and child abusers.

I agree and disagree. My parents and many other fine people I know were spanked as children but are not currently wife beaters or were ever chld abusers! I cannot remember the last time one of my own children was ever spanked-(maybe a pop on the hand as toddlers, when they don't really understand verbal reasoning).However,I am in the public schools ALOT and "time out" just does not do the job for most of these kids! Maybe in homes like ours, where we take the time to teach our chldren moral values and responsibility, so that they develop a conscience about right and wrong, "time out" works. Of course, for alot of children, corporal punishment does not work either- because any apanking they would get at school would not compare to the "spanking" they get at home, so they think it's funny!And children learn violence from many other sources besides spankings- many kids that are violent have NEVER been spanked. These children know that "the school can't do anything"(that works!) so discipline is a major issue in public schools!

[tellinlikeitis]

If spanking lowers a child's IQ & promotes violence then someone has definately beat the h*ll out of the gang members in this town.

[YukYukYuk]

tellinlikeitis wrote:

If spanking lowers a child's IQ & promotes violence then someone has definately beat the h*ll out of the gang members in this town.

That's probably true. Kids act out what they see and experience.
My parents never hit us kids, and we do very well in school. We did have to endure very long lectures, and then had to answer questions and explain what we heard. But it was still better than being hit. And when my mother said "Don't embarrass me," We knew what she meant.

We went to karate school to learn how to defend ourselves, and it worked out very well.

[YukYukYuk]

mom-and educator wrote:

<quoted text>
any apanking they would get at school would not compare to the "spanking" they get at home, so they think it's funny!!

Get a spanking in school????

My mother thought we got "frisky" when we were bored, and would ask us if we needed help finding something "nice" to do. We quickly thought of something to avoid a lecture.

[mom-and educator]

YukYukYuk wrote:

<quoted text>
Get a spanking in school????
My mother thought we got "frisky" when we were bored, and would ask us if we needed help finding something "nice" to do. We quickly thought of something to avoid a lecture.

Yes, we never got spanked much either! I do think ideally that other methods of discipline are better than spanking-the key is consistency!It's just sad that alot of kids do not have consistency at home- so at school, it can take a LONG time to convince them that you will follow through!

[no can do]

modern mom wrote:

Hey Old School, don't you think that spanking might be promoting violence? Those spanked kids will probably grow up to be wife beaters and child abusers.

if they are wife beaters and child abusers, they are the exceptions. i grew up getting a spanking for misbehaving and it didn't make me want to abuse anyone. what it did do, though, was keep me from repeating the offense over and over. it was a lesson well learned and after 30 years i still remember the spankings i got and what i got them for.

[LuLuBell]

Clay Roads wrote:

The generations past that put a man on the moon and invented every modern device we know of got their butt whipped when they needed it, at home and at school.

Are we to assume that everyone in the past was spanked? That is where you are assuming and making a general assumption.

Why should they spank them? I think they should turn them over to the football coaches and have them run laps around the field or pull heavy objects, push ups, sit ups.

Why should some kids break school policy and get paddled and others other treatment?

[Clay Roads]

LuLuBell wrote:

<quoted text>
Are we to assume that everyone in the past was spanked? That is where you are assuming and making a general assumption.
Why should they spank them? I think they should turn them over to the football coaches and have them run laps around the field or pull heavy objects, push ups, sit ups.
Why should some kids break school policy and get paddled and others other treatment?

You need to get over the fight and football thing. This is another post altogether. All I'm saying about this one is all options should be open for those parents that choose to discipline their children or have the school be involved, spanking included. When I went to school if you broke the rules the boys got licks, I don't know what the girls got. That is not an assumption. Everyone that got licks did not become stupid or become a wife or child abuser. Those generalized studies these so called experts publish are crap. The people that do them don't even have children.

[Moe]

Clay Roads wrote:

<quoted text>
You need to get over the fight and football thing. The people that do them don't even have children.

I will nevahhhhhhhhhh get over the football thing. I will drive it home until the cows come home!!!

And you JUST made another assumption that the people who do those studies don't have children. Sigh...Clay Clay Clay when will you learn?

[Moe]

and yes I am Moe too :)

[Clay Roads]

Moe wrote:

<quoted text>
I will nevahhhhhhhhhh get over the football thing. I will drive it home until the cows come home!!!
And you JUST made another assumption that the people who do those studies don't have children. Sigh...Clay Clay Clay when will you learn?

I checked on the author of the study before I made my charge. Never married, no kids so wrong again. If you are trying to somehow get under my skin with your obsession with the other issue it won't happen. We aren't playing on a level field so get over it.

[Clay Roads]

Moe wrote:

and yes I am Moe too :)

What did you do with the other two stooges?

[Moe]

Clay Roads wrote:

<quoted text>
What did you do with the other two stooges?

I will never tell :)