While parents might think they are providing appropriate discipline, they could be causing physical, mental and emotional damage to their children. At best, smacking children has a limited impact on their challenging behaviours. At worst, it significantly harms their long-term wellbeing.
Research has found that physical punishment such as smacking is both ineffective and bad for children's development. Research which analysed a range of studies on physical punishment such as smacking found that, in fact, this punishment made child behaviour worse.
Physical punishment by a parent towards a child remains lawful under the Criminal Code Act 1924 (s 50), which states: 'It is lawful for a parent or a person in the place of a parent to use, by way of correction, any force towards a child in his or her care that is reasonable in the circumstances. '
Smacking, or any form of physical discipline, is not an effective way to teach children right from wrong. While smacking may provide quick and temporary relief to parents, it causes children confusion, fear, and resentment.
Corporal punishment hurts children physically. It's also harms children's learning, development and relationships. Corporal punishment doesn't help children learn to behave in appropriate ways. Strategies that encourage positive behaviour are much better for children.
Not only does hitting kids do little good; it can worsen their long-term behavior. “Children who experience repeated use of corporal punishment tend to develop more aggressive behaviors, increased aggression in school, and an increased risk of mental health disorders and cognitive problems,” Sege said in a statement.
But a new study has revealed the practice is more prevalent than many would think. The research, led by the Australian Catholic University's Professor Daryl Higgins, found six in 10 people aged between 16 and 24 experienced four or more incidents of smacking in childhood.
Each child is different, but most children need to be given clear rules about behavior. Discipline needs to start as soon as a child is pulling up and crawling. Infants rely on their parents to provide a safe environment. Discipline should be adjusted by the age of your child.
Corporal punishment sets clear boundaries and motivates children to behave in school. Children are better able to make decisions about their behavior, exercise self-control, and be accountable for their actions when they understand the…
Acknowledge your actions
Experts say caregivers should first acknowledge what happened in order to mend the relationship with their kids. "Whenever you hit your child, it's significant, so own what you did," says Dr. Siegel. Then make sure to discuss what happened with your kid and console them.
It is not illegal for a parent to hit their child as long as the 'smack' amounts to 'reasonable punishment'. There is, therefore, a difference between punishment and what can feasibly be termed 'abuse'.
Physical punishment is associated with a range of mental health problems in children, youth and adults, including depression, unhappiness, anxiety, feelings of hopelessness, use of drugs and alcohol, and general psychological maladjustment.
Examples include positive reinforcement, time-out, taking away of privileges, and physical punishment. Physical punishment, sometimes called corporal punishment, is anything done to cause pain or discomfort in response to your child's behaviors.
When considering how many spanks a child should get, a general suggestion is that the number of spanks you give should equal the number of times the child has broken the same rule. This would mean starting with a non-physical punishment or warning for the first offense.
Smacking is just another word for hitting.
It is that corporal punishment generally, even at a low level, leads to increased anxiety and aggression in children. This impact worsens, the more severe the punishment.
There is now incontrovertible evidence that smacking children is harmful: a review of 69 longitudinal studies in the Lancet found that physically punishing a child is associated with worsening emotional problems and behaviour, controlling for other parent and child characteristics.
Dangerous and destructive behaviors should not be ignored. For example, if your child is hurting herself, hurting others, or destroying objects, she should not be ignored. These misbehaviors should be stopped immediately. Other discipline and consequences such as time-out should be used.
Positive punishment involves adding an aversive stimulus after an unwanted behavior to discourage a person from repeating the behavior. Spanking and chores are examples of this. On the other hand, negative punishment involves the removal of something desirable.
An adult may feel frustrated that they've lost control of the child, but when they strike the child, the child stops what they're doing and usually starts crying. The adult feels vindicated by getting the child's attention, and their pent-up frustration or anger is released.
The signs of trauma in a child include obsession with death or safety and issues with sleeping, eating, attention, and regulating emotions. Kids who have experienced trauma may also start to avoid school, especially if their trauma happened at school or is related to school, such as the death of a classmate.