Why Physical Punishment Doesn't Work

• The practice of hitting children teaches them to become hitters themselves. Research has shown that violent behaviour in the teenage and adult years is strongly related to physical punishment during the childhood years.
• Punishment gives the message that "might makes right", that it is okay to hurt someone smaller and less powerful. The punished child then feels it is appropriate to mistreat younger or smaller children. As adults, they feel little compassion for those less fortunate or less powerful than they are.
• Children learn best through parental modelling. Hitting a child gives the message that hitting is an appropriate way to express one's feelings and to solve problems.
• Hitting a child greatly interferes with the bond between the adult and the child, as no human being feels loving toward someone who deliberately hurts them. Physical punishment, even when it appears to work, can produce only superficially "good" behaviour based on fear.
• Anger that cannot be safely expressed becomes stored inside. Anger that has accumulated for many years can come as a shock to parents whose child now feels strong enough to express their rage.
• Spanking can be physically damaging. Blows to the lower end of the spinal column send shock waves the length of the column, and may result in bleeding in the brain. Lower back pain among today's adults may have its origin in early physical punishment.
• Many parents are unaware of other approaches to discipline, so when physical punishment doesn't accomplish the parent's goals, they can easily cross the line into child abuse.
• Physical punishment distracts children from the problem at hand as they become preoccupied with feelings of anger and revenge. It doesn't teach children how to solve problems or how to handle similar situations in the future.
• One of the most serious problems with physical punishment is that the more a parent uses it, the more they have to use it. Children become immune to the punishment, and the parent stops looking for any other solution.

Adapted from the document "Nine Reasons Not to Hit Your Children", produced by Calgary and Area Child and Family Services Authority