Shriya Sinha
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Written By: Shriya Sinha | Published : November 19, 2018 7:19 PM IST
54 countries have strictly banned the act of corporal punishment to ensure children wellbeing in the long run. ©Shutterstock.
Spanking or an act of slapping used by parents is one of the most common ways of disciplining children worldwide. According to a new study, regular spanking can lead to lower social development in young children. The study reportedly showed that a child's social development takes a beating in cases in which he/she was spanked or when a sibling was spanked.
Garrett Pace, lead author from the University of Michigan in the US said, "It appears that spanking may do more harm than good,". He added, "Reductions in corporal punishment might do a great deal to reduce the burden of children's mental health and improve child development outcomes globally."
For the purpose of the study published in the journal Child Abuse and Neglect, the team utilized UNICEF's data of 62 countries which revealed that caregivers practising the act of spanking was directly related to the lowering of social development among 215,885 three- and four-year-old children.
33 per cent of the respondents were in favour of physical punishments and found it necessary to bring up, raise or educate a child properly.
Among the children studied, 43 per cent were spanked or stayed in a home where another child was spanked.
Such behaviour is pervasive across cultures globally. Any small effect sizes evidently supporting harmful associations with child well-being should be used as evidence against socially sanctioned family violence like spanking.
An inference drawn is that such behaviour leads to deteriorating consequences on children's mental health and predisposes them to adverse mental health conditions as adults.
Therefore, extra policies globally are being made to deter the act of spanking. According to the study, already 54 countries have strictly banned the act of corporal punishment to ensure children wellbeing in the long run.
