Early Spankings Make for Aggressive Toddlers, Study Shows

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Clearly, Lee, you need to do more research as you are ill-informed. If you despise low-income families so much, why are you working with them? By the way your "non-pc" comment does not offend me. I am very low-income, however I do not spank my 15 month old (nor will I ever-and guess what? He is thee most well behaved child I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, as have noted many others who have met him). I have no reason to be offended by your judgemental, and innacurate, opinions. They only serve to make you look ignorant.

Kayla of KS 4:05PM September 24, 2010

Listening to the folks who insist that spanking is perfectly fine, if not sanctioned by the Bible (so is stoning to death but never mind), is amazing. The study is controlled with the exception of spanking or not. It doesn't claim that if you spank YOUR child, he/she will absolutely grow up to be poor, stupid and violent. It reports the statistical results in a scientifically accepted and peer-reviewed way.
Get a grip.

thebob.bob of OK 7:36PM September 16, 2009

After reading all of these comments I am amazed at how naive people can be. I don't think this article ever claims to be scientific and using the word "possibly" in an article is very accepted in these types of research articles. Also, for the gal or guy that made the first comment, I was not offended by your choice not to be PC, I agree that the PC crowd goes a little overboard at times. So you are right, you were not very PC at all, what you were is incredibly insulting, demeaning and rude. My favorite line was.... "That's because middle and upper income parents take time to love and care about their kids' lives". Indicating that lower-income parents do not love and care about their kids. That is just a wildly inaccurate and ridiculous statement. If you are working with lower-income people (all of whome you claim are crazy) you should consider finding a new job.

Sarah of CA 5:20PM September 16, 2009

Capital B Capital S!
What I'm about to say is going to offend soooo many people but I'm not politically correct and I'm sick of the PC crowd. I work all day dealing with low income folks and the majority (almost all) are complete idiots and usually demanding and aggressive themselves. They don't know how to deal with their own life let alone their kids'. Anyone who believes this study has no clue about the scientific process. Why not study high income parents who spank their kids? I'll bet they score higher on cognitive tests. That's because middle and upper income parents take time to love and care about their kids' lives. Yes that's right I said it. I see it everyday with low income people more concerned about getting snickers on their food stamps and pain pills with their free prescriptions (paid for by you and me) than they do about their kids running around out of control at 3 am. The parents don't even know where they are at half the time. These people can't balance a checkbook and they're supposed to know how to parent? If used sparingly spanking is ok. The important thing is love in the house and yes there can be both. Get a grip people. Spanking has been around forever. Child abuse is letting your kid grow up with no discipline and out of control.

Lee of WA 6:49AM September 16, 2009

I seriously question the objectiveness of this study. No reference is made to other sources of learning aggression at these influential ages, such as television, kinder / playgroups, etc.
An old wise saying : "Spare the Rod and Spoil the Child". http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/328950.html
Meaning
The notion that children will only flourish if chastised, physically or otherwise, for any wrongdoing.
Origin
This phrase has quite a long genesis. The coiner of the version that we use in everyday speech was Samuel Butler, in Hudibras, the satirical poem on the factions involved in the English Civil War, which was first published in 1662:
Love is a Boy,
by Poets styl'd,
Then Spare the Rod,
and spill the Child.
[by 'spill', Butler did mean spoil - that was an alternative spelling at the time]
The words were Butler's, but the notion is much older. John Skelton's Magnyfycence, a goodly interlude and a mery, circa 1520, includes this:
"There is nothynge that more dyspleaseth God Than from theyr chyldren to spare the rod Of correccyon."
The same thought occurs in the Bible and is first listed in John Coverdale's 1535 translation, in Proverbs:
"He that spareth the rodde, hateth his sonne."
The same thought is again found in an even older text, Aelfric's Homilies, circa 1000:
"Se ye sparas his gyrde, he hatas his cild."

Michael 1:41AM September 16, 2009

More junk "science"... How about:
1) parents who are themselves more aggressive than the norm:
2) may be more likely to spank their children, while they also
3) may have children who are more aggressive than the norm.
While there may be cause/effect correlation between 2 => 3, has the cause/effect correlation between 1 => 2 and 1 => 3 respectively been taken into account? How? If not, the study is not worth the paper it was printed on.

Vlad of MA 9:30PM September 15, 2009

More junk "science"... How about:
1) parents who are themselves more aggressive than the norm:
2) may be more likely to spank their children, while they also
3) may have children who are more aggressive than the norm.
While there may be cause/effect correlation between 2 => 3, has the cause/effect correlation between 1 => 2 and 1 => 3 respectively been taken into account? How? If not, the study is not worth the paper it was printed on.

Vlad of MA 9:29PM September 15, 2009

Notice there are a number of "assumptions" in this report. Example: "Being spanked at age 2, however, did not predict more aggressive behaviors at age 3, possibly because the spanking had begun at age 1 and by age 2 the kids were already more aggressive" Is this scientific data? Is the word "possibly" opinion or scientifically proof?
I also question their profiling. Did they choose low income parents with college educations? You know, those who donate their time and life to helping others and not to the almighty "income statistics?" Did they take into account the FACT that higher income parents are less likely to spend time with their children? Did they account for the amount of time spent during the day with the child? Did they take into account ANY OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL variables? I believe the answer would be no. This is like saying that because I burnt my toast this morning and the sun came up this morning too that the sun is responsible for burning my toast!
We are a family that believes in CORRECT DISCIPLINE. Spanking is a punishment, not discipline. It associates incorrect behavior with the proper amount of discomfort. I can say that my 3 year old has been popped on the bottom, but not spanked. My five year old might receive a spanking a month (and he is a very active boy!), and my 9 year old has not been spanked in over 2 years. Our children are constantly affirmed with positive words and actions. Both school age children test 4 grades above their current level in standardized testing and are well behaved and sociable. And we are "low income!" Of course both my wife and I have master's degrees, but we give of our time and would more than likely be simply thrown into a category of which we do not apply.
This article is nothing more than control and manipulation of data to provide the proper statistical outcome. This kind of inaccurate reporting is only presented to create an atmosphere that will shift policy toward the political and social belief system of the writer. Shame!

JAJ of NC 4:02PM September 15, 2009