Spanking has declined in America, study finds, but pediatricians worry about impact of pandemic
Millennials and Gen X parents appear to be spanking their kids less than previous generations, according to a research letter published Monday in the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics.
“This article is really impressive … and corresponds with our view that there’s been a generational change,” said child abuse pediatrician Dr. Robert Sege, lead author of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ policy statement on corporal punishment.
“Younger people tend not to hit their children,” said Sege, who was not involved in the new study. “As we’ve woken up to the issues of domestic violence and intimate partner violence there’s been a growing rejection of any sort of violence within the home, including spanking.”
The new analysis used data from the Monitoring the Future study, a national survey of 25 consecutive groups of graduating high school seniors between 1993 and 2017. Each group was reassessed 17 years later, at about 35 years of age. The study excluded those without children or with older children and focused on parents with at least one biological child, adopted child or stepchild age 2 to 12 years living at home part time or full time.
Some 50% of parents reported spanking a child in 1993; By 2017 that number was down to 35%. While excellent news, that number is still too high by standards set by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2018.
The pediatricians’ group suggests adults caring for children use “healthy forms of discipline” – such as positive reinforcement of appropriate behaviors, setting limits and setting expectations – and not use spanking, hitting, slapping, threatening, insulting, humiliating or shaming.
“Parents should never hit their child and never use verbal insults that would humiliate or shame the child,” said Sege, who directs the Center for Community-engaged Medicine at Tufts Medical Center in Boston.
Schools, after-school programs and day care centers are typically the “canary-in-the-mine” reporters of potential home-based violence.
Millennial & Gen Z spanking their children less.
Spanking has declined in America, study finds, but pediatricians worry about impact of pandemic | CNN
Spanking declined in the United States between 1993 and 2017, but pediatricians worry the stress of the pandemic may increase violence against children in some households.www.cnn.com
Let’s not talk about how the older baby boomers and silent generations used to allow other neighbors to spank their kids & then they could get a spanking again when they get home. Or they could get spanking by their school teacher.
What are your views on spanking?
Source:https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/27/health/spanking-decline-us-wellness/index.html
