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Spanking May Lower A Child's IQ: Study

Jan 6, 2005
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source:http://www.theprovince.com/mobile/news/top-stories/Spanking+lower+child+Study/2029974/story.

Spanking may lower a child's IQ: Study

Thursday, September 24, 2009
By Linda Nguyen, Canwest News Service


Children who are spared the rod may grow up to have higher IQs than those who are spanked, suggests a study by one of North America's foremost child psychology experts.


The U.S-based study, which will be presented Friday at the International Conference on Violence, Abuse and Trauma in San Diego, Calif., examined the IQ scores of 1,510 children aged two to four, and five to nine, and compared them with their IQ scores four years later.


Researcher Murray Straus found the younger children who were spanked scored an average of five points lower on their IQs, compared to children in their age group whose parents did not believe in corporal punishment.

Among the older group, the difference was pegged at 2.8 points.


Straus, a professor at the University of Hampshire who has been studying this topic for more than 50 years, said this was the third major U.S. study released this year showing a correlation between physical discipline and a child's intelligence.


"To put it in a nutshell, corporal punishment slows down the rate of development of mental ability," Straus said in a telephone interview from San Diego. "All the kids got smarter because they got older, but the ones who were spanked, less so."


Corporal punishment was defined in the study as hitting a child, usually on the buttocks, at least three times a week. The one who usually did the spanking was the mother


Straus said his study, which will also be published next week in the Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma, took into account other factors that may affect mental development, such as the family's socio-economic status and the parents' education levels.


He found that, not only was there a correlation between how often a child was hit and how slow his mental development was, there was also a link showing younger children were the most affected by spankings.


"That's kind of the cruelly ironic thing, because we hear that it's OK to hit younger children because they won't remember it," said Straus. "This evidence says it's worse for children between two to six, that the younger child is the most vulnerable."


For his research, Straus also analyzed surveys done by nearly 18,000 students in 32 countries — including Canada — and found that, generally, countries with high national-average IQs were nations that had banned, or do not socially accept, spanking.


The exceptions were the top five countries on the average-IQ list: Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Singapore. Straus attributed the discrepancy to a strong emphasis in those nations on academic excellence.


In the other countries surveyed, university students who were hit by their caregivers as children still exhibited signs of post-traumatic stress and fear that negative things would happen to them, which may be signs related to a lower IQ, said Straus.


In Canada, the Supreme Court of Canada issued a 6-3 ruling in 2004, upholding section 43 of the Criminal Code that said parents and caregivers are allowed to use reasonable force when disciplining a child no younger than two years old.


Bill S-209, which outlined the court's decision, made its way to a third reading in the Senate in June 2008, but never became law, because Parliament dissolved for an election.


Two dozen countries worldwide have banned spanking by parents and teachers, including Finland, Norway and Austria.


David Day, an associate psychology professor at Ryerson University in Toronto, said parents should be using positive-reinforcement techniques instead of striking their children.


"What spanking doesn't do is promote cognitive development or language and problem-solving abilities in children," said Day, who studies aggression and anti-social behaviour in children and youth. "It's very frightening for a child because, at a young age, they'll have the inability to deal with stress and be afraid of being hit. It really has long-term consequences for children."


He said corporal punishment is usually coupled with other negative parenting techniques, such as yelling, the removal of privileges or food, which would also be detrimental to a children's mental and emotional development.


The Child Welfare League of Canada said this study adds to a body of international research that shows the lasting effects of hitting a child.

"There's so much research that shows children who are brought up in that atmosphere and exposed to violence grow up thinking they're allowed to hit when they're displeased with a situation," said Gordon Phaneuf, a spokesman with the advocacy group. "So much of corporal punishment is done in a context that is very scary and upsetting. It shouldn't really surprise us that children will come away with messages that are very negative to the sense of who they are."


Phaneuf said Canada's reluctance to ban corporal punishment outright is sending the wrong message.


"Spanking clearly violates the rights of children as individuals. We know that hitting children is not an effective parenting technique," he said. "Just as you wouldn't hit a spouse or a senior parent or someone else you're caring for, you don't hit the most vulnerable people in society: our children."

© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service
 

Lee

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May 17, 2005
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IQ is a strange thing, what does it really measure?

I'm a faily intelegent chap(dyslexcia not-with-standing) and I was roundly beaten as a child. Yes of course such things have a detrimental effect on the mind of a young child, IQ score, umm I'm not so sure, I don't really place much stock in them at any rate.
 

Gyani Jarnail Singh

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spare the rod..and spoil the child...
of what use is higher iq...if your child is rude/offensive/abusive/bully/obnoxious/..as is the norm with children now a days...funny isnt it ?
Anyway pschoanalysis is so the IN thing these days...just watch nay serial rapist gettign caught...these pschoanalysts will ahev a field day..blaming his grandmother..who abused him a s achild..or his mother..thus he is actually raping his granny..when he rapes inncoent girls..and kills them becasue he is actually killing his mother..blah balh balh...everyoen si GUILTY..except the Perperator..he is top be PITIED..sympathised with..and released !!/rehabilitated..what a lood of bull.
Once a friend took me to hsi home to meet hsi fmaily in Washington...when we arrived..apparently his teenage sona nd daughter were upstairs in their rooms..so after having seated me and givne me a drink..he called his son on the intercom..come down Puttar...soemone form malaysia is here..i wnat to meet him..***..shouted the son..hes YOUR FRIEND dad..why bother me...what do i want with him...embarrassed he dialled his daughter..she just shouted abck..shut the F..up dad..i am busy. got no time for your foggy friends...are these the kind of children I want..??HELL NO...they may have Higher Iq than mine..BUT mine woudl NEVER embarass me like that...even if they hated my friedn..they woudl still "save my face" and coem down for a hello sat sri akal and then disappear..BUT never shout at me...Eho jiheh ucheh IQ americannan nu mubarak..The Americans can have these high IQ ones..good riddance.
 

Lee

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Gyani Singh ji,

I don't know, as I said I was roundly beaten as a child and so I choose not to treat my kids the same way. They are wonderful children well the eldest in almost 17 so I guess I can call him a young adult now.

I think it says more about lax peranting than a lack of smacking though, the way kids seem to be I mean. I have managed to instill in my kids a healty respect for their parents and a disciplince which means they do as they are told(or even asked) without fail, heh although sometimes not without grumbling.

Yes of course I am biased but I swear to you sir, if ever you met them you would be congratulating their mother and me.
 
Feb 19, 2007
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Even if we do not spank the Children, some physical restraint has to put to prevent them getting into trouble our getting others into trouble. this especially true for the boys. I never did have to spank my daughter. Maybe yelled at her a couple of times. that was sufficient.
If I did not exactly spank my son, I did have hold him and shake him up a few times to prevent him from getting into trouble. But must have yelled at him countless number of times.
 
Aug 17, 2009
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hahaha well said Gyani ji, i remember my friend's son who was beaten up regularly by his father. My friend would bash him up for the smallest reason be it his performance on his school report or every day chores. I once happened to visit him and as soon as i entered the house i heard father and son shouting. The son had learnt to shout back, i took a seat and was watching silently when my friend noticed me and started complaining about his son and then just warned him 'dare you do this i wont let you enter the house' I dunno what happened to his son he, i thnk was too frustrated with the everyday beating, suddenly he raised his finger and pointed at him with flashy eyes and said " Mainu vadda houn de tenu main vekh lehna" ( you wait, let me grow up and i will see you )

We were both aghast at that sudden reaction. He is cry baby and suddenly he got so red with anger. I advised him to stop taking him for granted and beating him so badly. If there is too much strictness this is what happens perhaps.
 

spnadmin

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Just one woman's view from the US. I don't think it is spanking or not-spanking that turns children in to rude, offensive, insolent, brooding and morbid characters -- such as you described Gyani ji. This is a pattern among US youth that has been building for nearly 25 years. No longer do I personally enjoy being around young people like this. Where does it come from?

Just one woman's view from the US :rolleyes: The parents of such rude young people have spent their entire careers as parents "negotiating" with their kids, from the time they could speak. They are actually guilt-ridden people who are afraid that any frustration of their children, any limits or rules, will make them resent or hate "the parents." The old "frustration will make you neurotic/psychotic hypothesis" actually has been out of style for quite some time. The new hypothesis that took its place is "frustration will turn you against me, you will think I am a bad father/mother."

The outcome? Just one woman's view from the US :}:) They actually grow up to have no ability to tolerate frustration, or take responsibility for their own lives. They cannot push themselves from within or delay even a minute to do the unpleasant things that go before success. In the end, they have not confidence or understanding of the emotions of others. They are angry anyway because now they are helpless -- remember their parents expected very little and so taught them next to nothing about character. And they are depressed. Don't laugh -- today we have teenagers on Prozac, Paxil and Zoloff.

Somewhere between spanking and caving in is the road to dharma.
 

Tejwant Singh

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If we follow what our Dasam Pita said, " Jin prem kio, tinh hee PRABH payeioh," then we will stop using our physical power over our weak kids and hug them when they make a mistake, lift them up when they fall down, smile rather than frown when they have a slip up or two.

By following the teachings of our Dasam Pita, we will be able to motivate our kids and hence, cultivate love and respect rather than disdain, anger and hatred.


Yes, The Bible says :"Do not with hold discipline from a child. if you BEAT him with a ROD, he will not die. Thou shalt BEAT him with a ROD and deliver his soul from Hell"
Proverbs 23:13,14.

Now let us talk about the above from our Gurmat values. Do we want our own father to be beating the hell out of us when we do something wrong or we want him to motivate us , forgive us when we make a mistake and hug us and love us no matter what?
In other words instill goodness in us.

There was a pastor in Atlanta,Georgia, who used the above biblical verse literally in the Church and encouraged the parents to do the same and was rightfully jailed.

Lee, as the saying goes, " Good actions need no reasons but bad actions need a lot of justifications". So, the other side of the coin would be, you may have been turned out to be much better than you are if you had not been spanked.

Yes, in Punjabi culture, spanking is also common but it is against our Gurmat values.

Spanking is nothing but a child abuse which is incapable of breeding love and goodness.


Tejwant Singh

 

spnadmin

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Lee, as the saying goes, " Good actions need no reasons but bad actions need a lot of justifications". So, the other side of the coin would be, you may have been turned out to be much better than you are if you had not been spanked.

Tejwant ji - Thanks for pointing this out. In my opinion, your answer - deep. :up:
 

Admin

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Tejwant ji, very nicely put... further i would like to know: suppose if i do not spank my child but verbally abuse him for each slip up or two... do it this or do it like that, see i told you, but wont listen and spit some venom verbally and shower my anger on him.

Is verbal abuse equivalent or even worse than literal spanking...? In my recipe, a little bit of spanking and lots of love is required to control the wandering mind of a child... as they often challenge the limits of our patience to see how far-off they can go in particular instance... love motivation does not work every time same is the case with physical spanking... it is very important to understand & keep the right balance between both of them... but as the kids grow a little older, the spanking should be avoided and motivation should take a front seat... :)

Gurfateh
 

Tejwant Singh

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Aman ji,

Guru Fateh.

Parenting is trial and error. There is no manual that one can open and check its index. In my personal experience, if a parent becomes a good listener to his/her child from the very beginning then the ways of communication are paved unconsciously and subliminally.

Verbal abuse, emotional blackmail are as bad or even worse than spanking but why get to that stage is the question every parent should ask her/himself.

For the record, neither were we spanked by our parents nor did we spank our kids ever.

The problem is the famous term, " Generation gap". We as parents want our kids to fill this gap up for us whereas it is our duty as parents to get close to our kids because of our experience, age, power and always keeping in mind that we are their nurturers.

Once we fail to do that then we start with the blame game which is laced with justifications that our children do not listen to us. If we stop and think for a moment then we would realise that it is us who failed to listen to them when they wanted our ear. We were too busy doing " adult things".

Yes, sternness and seriousness with timeouts, -meaning make them not play their favourite game or watch their favourite shows for some days-, are required. Jaskeerat reminded me on the other day on her FB page when she told her friends that she was forbidden to watch "Rugrats" a well known cartoon show because she was behaving like Angelica in her real life, - the main character of the show.

After this, both Jaskeerat and Trimaan gave themselves time outs on a volunteer basis whenever they thought they did something wrong. Then it was up to us as parents to reduce their timeouts, which we did, the ones they had decided themselves on.

Regards

Tejwant Singh
 

Gyani Jarnail Singh

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Now the really funny thing is that my own parents never even raised their voice..much less ebat any one of the twelve kids they had...i being the eldest..was always addressed as "Arshi Sahib..by my dad...from as long as i can remember..all we can remember is THEY were THERE always..for US.
And I in turn have never shouted at any of my kids...heck i dont ever remember shouting or scolding the nearly 7000 other peoples kids thta passed thru my hands...i got invited to birthdays of their grandfathers and sons in laws and all..all my time in Singapore as a bachelor teacher...every weekend was a breakfast/lunch/dinner invite at some students home or something..with their mums doting over me...as if i was their son and not their sons teacher...
The One and only inciodent of Gross insubordination i remeber is this one Rich brat son of an Indonesian Tycoon ( the chinese were persecuted in indonesia..so they all sent their children to be educated in Singapore) Well this Rich brat joined my class. He used to be driven to the school gates in a Merc while I walked from my home nearby. Daily he would whiz past..and behaved all right until one day I told all my students to place their school bags on the floor so they could be seated comfortably on their chairs ( everyone had a habit of placing their bags behind their backs...all obeyed..except this boy. So I repeated the request..and a THREAT that any bag found on a chair would be thrown OUT the window. ( we were on the 5th floor of a Govt School and he must have thought..what an empty threat. Was he ( and me too) surprised when i actually picked up his bag and threw it out the window. It crashed five floors down. He got up calmly, went below, took back his bag and placed it right back on the chair. I promptly picked it up and threw it back out. This time he came up and told me..I am going to see the Principal because a very expensive pair of glasses were in the bag and they were smashed. I said thats OK..but make sure you get the Principal to sign a note that you have actually met him..and I smiled...he too looked around at everyone..and then smiled...and put his bag on the floor...To cut the long story short...he became so attached to me..he instructed his chauffeur to drive to my apartment every morning before school to pick me up and then send me home first after school..until I was transferred to another school. A few months later i was surprised when he asked for a transfer to study at the school i was teaching...even though he didnt get my classes...

2. So maybe..its right that spanking or no spanking..its the ATTENTION thats lacking..and spoiling the children of this generation..the parents just LACK ATTENTION..towards their kids...possible !! The Parents are too busy with their own careers, making money, friends etc and the kids are just a sort of "collateral damage"..appendages that just happen and are necessary burden...
 

BhagatSingh

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Apr 24, 2006
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It's better to reinforce a child's good behaviour than punish the bad behaviour.

Jarnail Singh ji, you used the word "psychoanalysts" for all the psychologists who worked on this study. This is simply undermining their authority on the subject.
"Psychoanalysis is a body of ideas developed by Austrian Physician Sigmund Freud and his followers,..."
Although, this discipline is considered a part of psychology, it is very different from the other disciplines. For one, it is not based on Empirical studies like the one presented in topic.

You also recalled an experience you had, to support what you said... The research looks at over a thousand cases, because of it's large sample size it contains less error than your sample. Of course, the data presented shows correlation not causality so other variables maybe involved.

They have supported their case that this old mindset "spare the rod..and spoil the child..." is incorrect. Rather it should be "Spare the rod, save the child".

BTW I am not picking specifically on you, your post is one of the few posts I read.

My psychology professor specialized in child psychology and she used to talk about her studies with children, and how beating them or even yelling at them creates a negative impact on the child. That generally lasts even when they are older. She talked about how some children will then use this violent "problem solving" strategy with other children!

You're right about lack of attention but this attention should go beyond listening, the attention should be spent trying to understand the child so a better solution to the unwanted behaviour can be discovered.

Also, some researchers will argue that a part of behaviour might come from the child's genetic makeup. So I think that if the child has some behaviour that just won't go away with the peaceful methods you are using, it might be there for good! So no point in beating the child.

Also, if you scare the child (beating, yelling, etc), then Yes you can expect good behaviour from them BUT ONLY when you are around! If the child learns that he/she can express bad behaviour when you are not there.... he/she will!!
 

Lee

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Tejwant ji, very nicely put... further i would like to know: suppose if i do not spank my child but verbally abuse him for each slip up or two... do it this or do it like that, see i told you, but wont listen and spit some venom verbally and shower my anger on him.

Is verbal abuse equivalent or even worse than literal spanking...? In my recipe, a little bit of spanking and lots of love is required to control the wandering mind of a child... as they often challenge the limits of our patience to see how far-off they can go in particular instance... love motivation does not work every time same is the case with physical spanking... it is very important to understand & keep the right balance between both of them... but as the kids grow a little older, the spanking should be avoided and motivation should take a front seat... :)

Gurfateh

Aman Ji,

In answer to your question, yes I belive that verbal abuse can be much worse than violent abuse.

When we realise that every action we take and every word that we utter has an affect on others then we should in all good conciousness be very, very careful of both word and deed. Sadly the vast majority both say and do without thought.

To speak ill towards a child is in my mind a great sin, your words, easpecialy to your own children, will never be forgotten by them, they will measure you against everything you say, and once they reach adulthood it is they that judges your ability as a parent, not you nor your spouse but the very fruit of your loins.

To bring a child down with words effects the way they grow. To call a child not doing well at school, for example, and idiot brings about an idiot child, to call a child that does not like hard work(and lets face who actualy does?) a lazy so and so effects the growing mind of that same child to produce a lazy man. Self fulfilling prothesy.

We must all guard at all times agianst the harm which we may do others by our words and our deeds, and it seems hard but in my experiance it merely take 30 seconds real thought before reacting or acting in any situation.

Show your children love, and discipline, push them when they need pushing, praise them when as a result of your pushing they do well, and hug them and say those three little words every day.

Meh that's my take on it anyway.:)
 

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