Not according to the latest American Academy of Pediatrics policy-change. The Academy now urges parents NOT to spank, hit, slap, threaten, verbally abuse, shame, or humiliate their kids when they misbehave. New evidence shows that such actions lead to aggression and depression in kids and shrinks the grey matter in their brains.
Corporal punishment, says the Academy, can cause injury to under-18-month-olds, make preschoolers behave more aggressively, increase the chances of kids’ being defiant as they get older, and lead to mental health and cognitive disorders. Moreover, “spanking alone is associated with adverse outcomes, and these outcomes are similar to those in children who experience physical abuse.”
They suggest using other methods of correction: quiet talk at their eye level; restricting their Internet and video games; reinforcing their positive actions. They offer age-specific methods of discipline, as well. Babies should be distracted or moved away from the site of the problem. Preschoolers should be given time-outs. And older kids should have natural consequences.
Read the report. In today’s violent society, it makes sense–for our kids and for our future–to think about discipline for children.