A new study is rekindling one of the most heated debates in parenting — should you ever spank a child? The researchers, whose work was published in the journal Pediatrics, concluded that spanking small children can make them more violent. Of the 2,500 mothers studied, over a quarter spanked their children regularly. Children spanked at age 3 were 40 percent more likely than their unspanked peers to be aggressive two years later, at age 5. Does this mean parents should give up spanking once and for all? (Watch a CNN report about the spanking study)
This is the the last strike for spanking: Spanking teaches children to solve problems with violence, says Alice Park in Time, so it's hardly surprising that spanked children are more aggressive later in life. Spanking instills "fear rather than understanding" — alternatives, such as time-outs, teach children to think about their behavior rather than "blindly" acting out.
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