Group Therapy: Should You Spank Your Kids?

Did our parents keep spanking us because of the "My parents did it and I turned out just fine." mentality? Why do you choose to spank your children? Are you a parent that chooses to not spank your child? Pediatricians are warning parents that the outcome does not justify the means. Could you be harming your child more than you even realize?

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, "Corporal punishment and harsh verbal abuse may cause a child to be fearful in the short term but does not improve behavior over the long term and may cause more aggressive behaviors, according to the AAP." In one AAP study, young children who were spanked more than 2 times a month at age 3 turned out to be more aggressive at age 5. The study said, "Those same children at age 9 still exhibited negative behaviors and lower receptive vocabulary scores, according to the research." If studies show that spanking just makes children more aggressive and ultimately make our children not as smart as their peers why do we do it?  AAP went on to say that "Research has shown that striking a child, yelling at or shaming them can elevate stress hormones and lead to changes in the brain's architecture. Harsh verbal abuse is also linked to mental health problems in preteens and adolescents." Read the full study here.