Children may benefit from being smacked
January 4, 2010
New research in the U.S. has revealed that parents who judiciously smack their children as they are growing up may not be doing them any harm and could actually be doing them some good. Marjorie Gunnoe, professor of psychology at Calvin College in Michigan has even said that children who are not physically disciplined as they are growing up may end up without some of the social skills and self-discipline that is necessary for getting through their adult life. She says that those who have been smacked as children had a better chance of making it to university, performing better in the classroom and even doing volunteer work.
She admitted that spanking children could of course be a dangerous thing to do and said that her study involved children between the age of two and six. She said that hitting children once they have become teenagers could well lead to problems.
Dr. Aric Sigman, a psychologist and author of The Spoilt Generation agreed with professor Gunnoe’s findings. He said that there was no reason to believe that the odd dose of physical discipline from a parent who is sensitive and normally affectionate towards their child did any harm.
However Dr. Penelope Leach who is an expert in parenting disagreed and said she refused to believe that smacking a child was a way to teach them how to behave in a positive way. At the moment parents in Britain are allowed to physically reprimand their children as long as no mark is left on the child’s body. However recent surveys show that the majority of people in the country would like to see an outright ban.
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