Spanking ruins children forever, according to LA Times

An LA Times article is championing studies that say non-spanked kids do better for the rest of their lives.

The researchers interviewed more than 800 mothers and asked how often their kids did antisocial things such as cheat, lie, bully, deliberately break objects or act disobediently at school. Taking into account the degree of antisocial behavior that each mother said her child displayed at the beginning of the study, Straus' team concluded that spanking probably contributed to increases in bad behavior seen during the study.

Nevertheless, Straus notes, a "lucky majority" of kids who get spanked suffer no discernible harm.

"Lucky majority"? The studies reveal that repeated, excessive spanking is not useful and is possibly detrimental, but not that it's a recipe for disaster.

Spanking "gives the message that force is a justifiable method of solving conflicts," says Daphne Bugental, a psychologist at UC Santa Barbara. "The child is learning a lesson: If you run into a conflict, use power, use force."

Spanking offers at least one positive lesson: Actions have consequences. Anybody can see that kids today are completely out of control, and that's because they have learned there are no negative consequences for bad behavior. There needs to be a balance.