Why doctors are telling us not to smack our children
by Cassie White
Whether parents should use smacking as a form of discipline is a highly controversial and emotional debate. But why are doctors calling for physical punishment to be made illegal?
Published 29/08/2013
ABC
Whether it was a slap on the hand or whack across the bottom, many of us were smacked by our parents when we were kids.
In fact, smacking is a form of discipline many of us still use, with figures showing 69 per cent of Australian parents still smack their kids today.
But the debate about whether physical punishment is a safe and effective form of discipline recently made headlines when the body representing children's doctors – the paediatric division of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) – called for physical punishment to be made illegal in Australia.
According to RACP, physical punishment (or corporal punishment) is the use of physical force to help control a child's behaviour. Usually it involves smacking a child with your hand or an implement, such as a wooden spoon or belt, although it can include kicking, biting or shaking.
This form of discipline has been outlawed in 33 countries, including New Zealand, and evidence shows these countries now identify children at risk of abuse earlier, and have very low rates of child mortality associated with abuse.
The RACP argues physical punishment – including smacking – is outdated, and that children's human rights are being violated as they're the only group not protected from physical violence under current laws.
It's calling for parents to be supported to use "more effective, non-violent methods of discipline" instead.
Long-term effects
Associate Professor Susan Moloney, president of the Paediatrics and Child Health Division at the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) and associate professor at Griffith University, says physical punishment doesn't have to cross the line into abuse for children to suffer long-term mental and behavioural issues.
"There is no safe threshold on the number of times or how hard you can smack your child," she says.
"What one parent calls a smack may be different to someone else's definition of a smack. Children should not be subject to any physical punishment."
Studies shows physical punishment has a range of health and social consequences and is not an effective form of discipline. Some of the specific findings include:
Experience of physical punishments – such as slapping or hitting – in childhood is associated with depression, anxiety disorders, substance abuse/dependence, and personality disorders later in life.
Experience of physical punishments in childhood is associated with a higher incidence of health conditions in adulthood, including cardiovascular disease, obesity and arthritis.
Children who are spanked frequently at age three are more likely to be aggressive at age five.
Physical punishment teaches kids to avoid the 'bad behaviour' in front of adults, rather than stop the behaviour completely.
There is no evidence that physical punishment improves child development and health.
The wrong lessons
Child and educational psychologist, Andrew Greenfield, says smacking only tells children it is okay to hit other people.
"Right then and there, it teaches kids that physical violence is the way to solve their problems," he says.
"It might have short-term gains for parents, but it doesn't actually teach them anything and that's the whole point.
"Ultimately, if you're smacking a child, you're doing it for the child to develop a fear, and trying to get anything out of your child through fear is never going to work."
But he says effective discipline is more than simply not smacking your child.
"Even if you don't smack, but shout and scream, it's certainly not going to be effective, either."
Losing control
Currently, Australian law says that parents can use "reasonable force" to discipline a child, but NSW is the only state that clarifies what that actually means.
The RACP argues "reasonable force" can escalate into full-blown abuse when angry parents lose control.
Moloney says most infant homicides are a result of physical punishment gone wrong.
"The defence that parents [who accidentally kill their children] use, is that they were just trying to discipline them," she says.
A review of 165 child homicides in New South Wales between 1992 and 2005 found that 59 were related to child abuse. The authors argued the rate of child homicide in NSW was much higher than in countries where physical punishment had been banned. They concluded "more lives could be saved by measures that reduce the incidence of child abuse, including the prohibition of corporal punishment of children".
Changing the law isn't enough
Professor Matt Sanders, clinical psychologist and director of the University of Queensland's Parenting and Family Support Centre agrees that physical discipline is never effective.
But he says it's "irresponsible" to introduce anti-smacking legislation, unless parents are given the information and support to implement effective alternatives.
"We've learned that when parents learn effective alternatives, they simply stop hitting their kids," Sanders says.
"But just having an information repository on a website where you've got lots of information people can download, doesn't mean parents are doing so," he says.
However, Greenfield says there's no one-size-fits-all method to discipline and how parents go about it depends on their own patience threshold, parenting style and expectations.
But experts agree there are some basics that can help when it comes to disciplining children. These include:
Be consistent and follow through with consequences.
Distract children with interesting and fun activities – especially while you're shopping or at other times kids can play up.
Point out when your child is doing the right thing, not just the wrong.
Ignore children when they are misbehaving to get a reaction.
Pick your battles; sometimes you just have to let things go.
When you feel out of control, put your child somewhere safe and take time out.
