spanking

Read the latest news and studies about spanking on Newser.com

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Pediatricians on Corporal Punishment in Schools: Stop It

Think it achieves behavioral improvement? Think again, AAP says

(Newser) - More than three decades after it first called for the end of corporal punishment in schools, the American Academy of Pediatrics is having to repeat itself amid the ongoing hitting of students. Corporal punishment, defined as "the infliction of pain upon a person's body as punishment," should...

After Input From Parents, School District Reinstates Spanking

Parents will have to opt-in, and it will be used as last resort

(Newser) - "The complaints that we have heard from some of our parents is that they don't want their students suspended," said a Missouri school superintendent. "They want another option." And another option they will get. KOLR reports that the Cassville School District is reintroducing corporal punishment,...

Study: Spanking Your Kids Is Good for Nothing
Study: Spanking Your
Kids Is Good for Nothing
new research

Study: Spanking Your Kids Is Good for Nothing

Researchers say it leads to negative outcomes, not positive ones

(Newser) - The upshot of a new study on spanking children: Just don't do it. "Parents hit their children because they think doing so will improve their behavior," explains senior author Elizabeth Gershoff of the University of Texas at Austin to CNN . "Unfortunately for parents who hit, our...

Pediatrics Group to Parents: No Spanking, Yelling

AAP comes out with a much stronger policy statement against 'aversive' discipline

(Newser) - It's been two decades since the American Academy of Pediatrics issued an official stance about discipline, and in that time, the group's opinion has changed quite a bit. Its 1998 guidance recommended that "parents be encouraged and assisted in developing methods other than spanking in response to...

Michigan City Creates No-Spanking Zones

Resolution comes with no penalty for desperate parents

(Newser) - Parents in a Detroit suburb are being told not to spank their children in public. With a 5-1 vote last month, Madison Heights' city council adopted "Hit Free Zones" in at least 10 public areas in an effort to stop violence of any kind, including children hitting other children....

A Reach Down, a Slap on a Hippo's Butt, Now a Crime Probe

LAPD looking for man who smacked the backside of 4-year-old hippo at Los Angeles Zoo

(Newser) - By now, everyone should know not to get too close to hippos in the wild or in captivity, but a California man didn't get the memo. Officials at the Los Angeles Zoo tell the Los Angeles Times they've recruited the LAPD to help look for a most unusual...

Texas School Nixes Birthday Spankings

Some parents are baffled by the decision to end the eight-year tradition

(Newser) - A playful tradition has been slapped down at Alvord Elementary School in Alvord, Texas. Students at the school will no longer receive light-hearted birthday spankings. Principal Bridget Williams, who has been doling out the spankings for the last eight years, will be handing out high fives or hugs instead, reports...

Study: Negative Effects of Spanking Can Linger for Years
Spanking an
Infant Changes
Behavior as Teen
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Spanking an Infant Changes Behavior as Teen

And not for the better

(Newser) - "It is very important that parents refrain from physical punishment as it can have long-lasting impacts," Gustavo Carlo says in a press release . The University of Missouri professor is behind a study recently published in Developmental Psychology that looked at the long-term ramifications of spanking and other forms...

Paula Patton: Robin Thicke Abused Our 6-Year-Old

Spanking is issue: She calls it excessive, Thicke says they agreed upon it

(Newser) - Robin Thicke and Paula Patton's custody battle is spiraling: A judge on Thursday denied the actress' request for an emergency hearing Patton was seeking in hopes of limiting her ex's time with 6-year-old son Julian, reports ET Online . Spanking appears to be at the root of the request:...

How We Discipline Kids Has Changed, or So Say Parents

Moms report less spanking, more time-outs

(Newser) - A long-range study on how parents discipline their kids shows a clear trend: spanking is down and time-outs are up. The Georgetown researchers looked specifically at national surveys involving mothers with kindergarten-age kids and found that modern parents across all income levels report spanking their children less than their counterparts...

Viral Images of Girl Being Disciplined Spark Debate

Man seen pulling girl by hair in Walmart

(Newser) - A man in Texas is being investigated after several Walmart shoppers spotted him pulling a girl by a section of her hair held against his shopping cart. Shoppers Erika and Robert Burch say they asked him to stop, and when he told them to mind their own business they took...

Boys Broke Into a Home. A Whipping Got Mom Arrested

'It's been hell,' says Schaquana Evita Spears

(Newser) - Appropriate parenting or criminal behavior? That's the question being asked across the US in regards to the case of a Louisiana woman arrested Monday for whipping her young sons after they burglarized a neighbor's house. Among the people speaking up for Schaquana Evita Spears, a 30-year-old single mom...

Bank Workers Spanked for 'Not Exceeding Themselves'

2 executives from Chinese bank have been suspended

(Newser) - A disturbing video getting attention on social media shows a row of eight Chinese bank employees on a stage being told to "get their butts ready" then spanked—hard—in front of their colleagues for "not exceeding themselves." The employees had been in a "Breakthrough in...

Researchers Analyze 50 Years of Spanking Studies

It can lead to everything from antisocial behavior to mental illness

(Newser) - Not only is spanking ineffective when it comes to disciplining children, it can actually lead to everything from mental health problems to aggression. That's according to a new study published in the Journal of Family Psychology in which researchers looked at 50 years of prior research on nearly 161,...

Pope's Sex Abuse Commission on Spanking Remarks: Um, No

Commission will recommend Francis revise his remarks

(Newser) - Members of Pope Francis' sex abuse commission have criticized his remarks that it is OK for parents to spank their children , saying there is no place for physical discipline and that the commission would be making recommendations to him about protecting kids from corporal punishment. The commission met with its...

Pope: OK to Smack Kid, but Avoid Face

Francis speaks frankly on corporal punishment of children

(Newser) - It's OK to spank your child as long as you preserve the child's "dignity" and don't touch the face, according to Pope Francis. "One time, I heard a father say, 'I sometimes have to smack my children a bit, but never in the face...

Florida Cop Supervises Child's Spanking

Father asked officer to watch him paddle girl, 12

(Newser) - Spanking children has been outlawed in dozens of countries, but it's still legal in all 50 states—and in Florida, you can apparently request a police presence. Police in Okeechobee County say father Dale Garcia asked a deputy to stand by and make sure he was obeying the law...

It's 'Perfectly Legal' to Beat Your Kids

Mark Joseph Stern on why Adrian Peterson probably won't go to jail

(Newser) - Adrian Peterson has been accused of child abuse , then quickly reinstated , and don't expect him to go to prison, writes Mark Joseph Stern on Slate , because "in much of the United States, beating your own children—even to the point of bodily harm—is perfectly legal." Corporal...

Kansas Bill Would Allow Spanking That Leaves Marks

But would still ban hitting with belts, fists

(Newser) - A Kansas lawmaker is proposing a bill that would allow teachers, caregivers, and parents to spank children hard enough to leave marks. Current Kansas law allows spanking that doesn't leave marks. Rep. Gail Finney, a Democrat from Wichita, says she wants to allow up to 10 strikes of the...

UK Children's Official: Ban All Parental Smacks

Maggie Atkinson says it's strange that pets get stronger protection

(Newser) - Britain's official in charge of children's welfare may have just launched a national debate on the nanny state. Maggie Atkinson tells the Independent that she thinks parents should face criminal punishment for even mild smacks of their kids. The quote roiling up the British press:
  • “Personally, having
...

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