Study Links Spanking to Later Mental Disorders: Is Spanking Ever OK?

by mrosen814 Posted 2012/07/11 21:00:00

Related Topics: Health, Disorders, Spanking, Discipline, Mental Health, Parenting, Life, Personality

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	Yes	549 votes	73%
	No	205 votes	27%

A study from the American Academy of Pediatrics shows that physical punishment to discipline children, has a strong association with "...increased risks of mental and personality disorders, as well as drug and alcohol abuse."

Though the article points out that spanking does not cause mental health disorders, researchers claim there is a strong correction. The results "send a strong message that spanking should never be used on a child," states Abel Ickowicz, psychiatrist-in-chief at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.

THEGLOBEANDMAIL.COM reports:
Data doesn’t show that it causes mental disorders, but it does present a statistically significant correlation

+49

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XRenX 2012/07/11 21:50:43 (edited)

Yes

+36
I will. Spare the rod spoil the child. I got spankings (the rare few times I needed them) and I am fine. I am a college student, going back this year...I don't think I am crazy. Oh and I recall the singer P!nk saying she was a bad child and is grateful for the spanking discipline she got, otherwise she'd have gone down another path. Not every study is accurate.

There was a study about weed damaging brain cells (not that I smoke it) and one about classical music making you smarter...both were proven to be myths. I am sick of all these parents now, being too lenient. Do you think that is good? They let their kids smoke, have sex, disrespect them, HIT them, scream and holler in public, etc. Teach them that YOU are in charge and as a parent, you have every God given right to be. You have more life experience than them of course they may not understand every form of discipline or restriction you put on them even upon an explanation. Look at it this way, say you have tried every form of discipline/help there is, except spanking and if all else failed, what would you do? Try what works and if it does, (and it isn't illegal) use it. We need to stop confusing necessary discipline for abuse.

DISCIPLINE THEM EFFECTIVELY SOME HOW! We don't need anymore criminals than we have now, be a parent. Thank you.
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More polls by mrosen814

KCarden2014 2012/07/12 11:13:16

No

Supernanny does not approve

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im right ur wrong 2012/07/12 11:02:25

Yes

+1
i think sometimes it is but sometimes the kid dosent deserve it and he still gets spanked.if he deserves it then yes.

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hasher 2012/07/12 10:05:23

Yes

+6
i spanked my kids when necessary and they all turned out fine. as far as im concerned theres not enough of it today. too many spoiled and rude kids running around. they are not being taught good manners. theres a difference between spanking and child abuse.

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Lady Whitewolf 2012/07/12 09:40:10

Yes

+2
Sometimes it's the only way you can get their attention!

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Becky to Lady Wh... 2012/08/07 11:54:26

That's a parents COP OUT!

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Ichiban Otousan 2012/07/12 08:27:23

No

+2
but then I was never spanked.

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jerry.alan.carroll 2012/07/12 08:16:02

Yes

+6
and I think this study is bogus.

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jerry.a... to jerry.a... 2012/07/12 08:34:39 (edited)

+1
wasn't there a study linking delinquency with parents that don't use any form of corporal punishment?
http://www.parentdish.com/201...
http://www.lilsugar.com/New-S...
and much more I am seeing!

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Ichiban... to jerry.a... 2012/07/12 14:11:57

while I wasn't spanked and turned out fine, i will say there were a lot of kids on base that even when they graduated acted totally spoiled....see, on military bases, anyone can call the SFs even if they THINK you are physically punishing your kid.

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valeria la potra 2012/07/12 07:48:54

No

+1
Ok a litle spanking if the kid is being rude,disrespectfull,or not listlening ok.Now,to beat up a kid or child is cruel,unhealthy,illegal and punishable. Child abuse or sexual abuse is something that should be punishable and not tolerated!!!!

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Dax to valeria... 2012/07/12 15:38:44

+1
Absolutely it should not be tolerated... but this question was only asking about spanking... As in, a smack or two on the butt.

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valeria... to Dax 2012/07/12 20:06:39

+1
Well,i agree with you on that.To dicipline a child is ok.

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biggerman 2012/07/12 07:39:17

Yes

+2
What a load of crap. Fisrt of all, the fact that the guy is Canadian causes me to think immediately that he is a a liberal, socialist, activist. He has an" axe to grind" against spanking and most likely cannot (or chose not to) differentiate between spanking and genuine physical abuse. In other words, he, along with his conclusion, is full of crap.

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BritPunk to biggerman 2012/07/12 08:46:11

:-)

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SundayS... to biggerman 2012/07/12 12:01:54

+3
"the fact that the guy is Canadian causes me to think immediately that he is a a liberal, socialist, activist."

And you can tell all that from the simple fact he's Canadian? Well someone's a little racist.

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Ichiban... to SundayS... 2012/07/12 14:15:40

+1
The guy is afraid to use actual racist words so now he throws out monikers like liberal and socialist.
Honestly, this politics stuff is driving me up the wall. folks that divide themselves intentionally like this I perceive to be a tad.....off.

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SundayS... to Ichiban... 2012/07/12 19:44:17

+2
Ugh God I agree with you on the politics thing. >> It's like OH YOU DISAGREE WITH ME YOU MUST BE OF THE OPPOSING POLITICAL PARTY

then there are those who use "liberal" and "conservative" as insults. It's like COME ON IT'S ONLY POLITICS

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biggerman to SundayS... 2012/07/12 17:28:22

+1
First of all - "Canadian" is not a "race." Secondly, I drew my concluson from two factors: 1. From the fact that he is Canadian 2. From what he said

Put the two together and you draw a likely conclusion that he is "a liberal, socialist, activist."

Come On, Man!

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SundayS... to biggerman 2012/07/12 19:38:52

...I did actually think that racist could be used for countries too. o-o Sorry if I misused said word, if I knew what the term for countries was I would've used that.

I also don't know much about the political standing in Canada but I'm pretty sure you can't tell someone's political stance from what country they come from. What he said might be a good indicator of it but you can't just base your logic on the fact he's Canadian. That's stupid.

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biggerman to SundayS... 2012/07/12 22:57:12

No kidding! You have to undertand the use of sarcasm - most comments that people make - even real racist ones - are sarcastic. Don't make so much of it. There are 35 Million Canadians - they are not all alike - I undersand that.

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Dax to biggerman 2012/07/12 15:39:39

I'm a Canadian, and I do believe in spanking. Not all Canadians are how you describe us. :)

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biggerman to Dax 2012/07/12 17:36:43

Yes, I know that but Candian culture has a tendency to be more like "liberal" culture in this country. Canadians, in a general sense, seem to be more like Europeans in respect to the fact that few Canadians attend church, Canadians tout their National Health Insurance as if it should be a model for the U.S., you have rejected the death penalty entirely even in the case of serial killers, etc. In the above case, I, as an American, do not place much stock in the reasonings of a person who is obviously liberal in his positon on this subject and the fact that he Canadian causes me to understand at least partally, the reason he has come to such an inane conclusion: He's "Canadian!"

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Dax to biggerman 2012/07/12 17:48:29

I understand, but I don't believe the biggest driving force behind his views and their formation is that he is a Canadian. There are too many factors in the formations of one's beliefs to peg them on only one thing.

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biggerman to Dax 2012/07/12 19:08:23

I know - my tongue was in my cheek a little - I am not that down on Canada or her people - I just get weary of having Canada touted as superior to us by liberals in this country because they have National Health Insurance and no Death Penalty. theoritically, I disgree with them on those two issues but I also recognize a number circumstancial reasons why they can afford to have these views while we cannot. Now this "spanking/no spanking" issue promoted by a Canadian as if it has relavance to anything is my own observation, experience, and values. It doesn't!

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lady_c5_loadmaster 2012/07/12 07:19:37

Yes

+4
It depends on the severity of the misbehavior. Sometimes a swat on the butt with the hand gets their attention better than anything else. I was spanked as a child and I have no problems with mental or personality disorders or drug and alcohol abuse.

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Lady Wh... to lady_c5... 2012/07/12 09:40:56

+1
same here!

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RoseyRhod to lady_c5... 2012/07/12 13:39:41

+1
My mental disorder is in my brain, not my ass. The fact that my mother spanked me occasionally did not cause me to develop bipolar disorder.

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Rave 2012/07/12 07:17:54

Yes

+2
Parent's choice I have to say. Just don't take it to the extreme. If the kid seems very terrified of it and very anxious when you do it, you should reconsider. Some people with fragile minds can honestly trigger mental disorders from any kind of behavior which their mind views as "abuse".

When you're young, often you perceive events very differently and recall them differently as an adult.

So treat every kid differently, take their personality into account. You can't use the same method on everyone.

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Marcus Clark 2012/07/12 07:14:07

Yes

+5
Hogwash

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BIGK27 2012/07/12 06:50:50

Yes

+6
The worst thing that ever happen to this Country is when they took discipline out of school.

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Rave to BIGK27 2012/07/12 07:23:17

+2
For our education system, it seems that the best thing that happened was when we took discipline out of school (Here in Finland).

Our education system wasn't working too well with the standard method, so in the 70s it was changed. These days we have the best education system in the world statistically (Highest international exam results in science and math, high graduation and university entry level, high attendance, students say they enjoy school and learning more than in other countries, more motivated students etc.)

And no discipline is used. Even giving detentions is not legal in highschool anymore, a teacher can "give detention" but if the student doesn't want to come there will be no further punishments. I don't know how it works, but it works very well.

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BIGK27 to Rave 2012/07/12 07:41:42

+2
They took it out here in the 70s also But Over here the kids are Out of control

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JCD aka... to Rave 2012/07/12 10:37:05

Finland actually seems to have the most effective system.

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Bill to Rave 2012/07/12 13:35:51

You folks probably don't have to deal with some of the kinds of people that we do. I hope your system continues to work well

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Bill to BIGK27 2012/07/12 13:36:52

I was our everknowing and all powerful Gub'mint that did it !

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sol 2012/07/12 06:30:54

Yes

+5
Children need discipline. I have a 14 year old sister-in-law and she does whatever she wants. Smoke pot, stays out late and does try in school whens she's very smart. She's even told me that the reason why she does all of it is to see if her mom will punish her.
I was spanked as a child and turned out very successful with a wife and two boys that I will be sure to spank if it is merited.

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sherie 2012/07/12 06:30:03

Yes

+2
I kinda like it! ;)

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sherie to sherie 2012/07/12 06:33:52

+3
Sorry....being a smart ass. I didnt spank my kids and i cringe when i see others do it. Violence begets violence. How do you teach a child self control when you loose control yourself?

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Marcus ... to sherie 2012/07/12 07:11:55

+3
If you lose control, you are doing it wrong. Yes, many do it wrong, and that is usually worse than not doing it at all.

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biggerman to sherie 2012/07/12 07:43:37 (edited)

+1
Who said anything about losing control. I spanked my children and, when I did, I was in complete control. I didn't spank them for everything and, in fact, did not spank very often. But, children need to know that spanking is "on the table." If you remove that from your repertoire you are making a mistake. My dad spanked me and, when he did, he was in complete control. Come on, you know better than that. I "kinda liked" your first anwer though. You should have stopped there.

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