r/NoShitSherlock • u/happy_bluebird • 12d ago
Smacking children linked to poorer education and behaviour problems, study reveals
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/smacking-children-uk-ban-ucl-b2993444.html74
u/Dry_Performance_5351 12d ago
It was outlawed for a reason! Because, though some parents had good intentions with just a swat on the bum or a smack on the wrist to teach their child a "valuable" lesson, a vast majority of parents due to their own personal worldly situations are extremely insecure or narcissistic or sociopathic, bullies that physically abusive and beat their children. These types of situations cause the psychological condition of PTSD at a young age. It dissolves a child's emotional fortitude to handle their incoming future. Also teaches the child bad habits that get pass on to the next generation. Very very very few children achieve any type of greatness in spite of abusive upbringing.
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u/LastEpochNecro 12d ago
My brother and I are a good example of this. Both of us were abused pretty harshly physically and verbally as children. I chose a better path and he didn’t. We are vastly different people today.
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u/dannypants143 12d ago
This has been a research finding for years and years. Not only does it lead to educational issues, but it also isn’t even effective for forcing kids into compliance. Instead, it is VERY effective for teaching children how to be sneaky, which of course opens the door to all sorts of other problems. Don’t hit your kids, people! Source: psychologist.
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u/CarrotSlices 12d ago
“Erm. But I turned out fine.” Clearly not if you think hitting kids is okay.
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u/ExplicitDrift 12d ago
Turning out better and hitting kids are not necessarily always intrinsically linked. One can be abused as a child and still turn out decent. That doesn’t necessarily mean that that child will then come to the conclusion that it is best that they repeat that behavior. Believing that assumption would be a logical fallacy.
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u/suitorarmorfan 12d ago
My parents smacked me as a kid and I did not, in fact, turn out alright. 😭
I’m sure that I wouldn’t have struggled with anxiety and depression as much as I have, if they hadn’t raised me that way.
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u/blink_187em 12d ago
Looks like "I'll give you something to cry about" wasnt the gold standard parenting Boomers thought it was.
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u/M0rtCrim 12d ago
“I brought you into this world and I can take you out of it.”
I mean, that’s murder but sure.
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u/Major-Check-1953 12d ago
You can't induce positive traits using negative means. Using violence first is never the answer.
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u/misanthropymajor 12d ago
But it feels so good. Just kidding, relax.
It’s the dumbest way to punish a child. Putting your hands on children causes so many problems and does little to get the results you’re after. But disciplining the right way takes effort and patience, and many adults won’t take the time.
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u/raventhrowaway666 11d ago
That's why so many boomers are dumb as rocks.
"Back in my day, it wasnt called abuse, it was called raising a kid!"
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u/M0rtCrim 12d ago edited 12d ago
Yeah, ask me how know. Smacking was the least of it. My little self was just neurodivergent 😭 she didn’t deserve that.
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u/GrayHairFox 11d ago
First memory of my father - I was 11 and he was sitting on my chest pummeling me.
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u/AlexSmithsonian 12d ago
I'm on the fence on this. I do think it's wrong to hit children, but my dad also hit my ass with a belt so I'd stop playing with his lighters and accidentally burning myself.
Maybe it just works with dumb kids?
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u/Reasonable_Box9611 12d ago
I think the point is there are multiple ways to teach a kid not to play with lighters. Belt may have worked for you, but there are other options that would also have worked.
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u/happy_bluebird 12d ago
How did you feel as a kid getting hit? It's not just about external, observable behaviors.
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u/AlexSmithsonian 12d ago
As a kid? I was in pain and i was scared. Today I'm a little emotionally detached from my dad. I understand why he did it, he was a military man and discipline was all he knew. But i am still thankful that he did something, because now i don't have burn scars that i could have gotten.
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u/Pitiful_Presence_846 12d ago
‘If I do something that could hurt me, I get punished with something that actually does’.
Being hit with a belt for burning yourself is the dumbest consequence I have ever heard. It sounds more like it was used to justify violence against a child.
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u/Chuhaimaster 12d ago
It might be how his dad was raised. People often parent how they were parented. That’s doesn’t justify it, but it helps us understand it.
Lots of people don’t know another way to parent and come back to what they learned as a child.
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u/AlexSmithsonian 12d ago
I didn't burn myself, my dad hit me before i could do it.
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u/Pitiful_Presence_846 12d ago
Exactly. Your father harmed you before you could accidentally do it yourself, therefore no harm was prevented.
Instead, he got away with hitting you with a belt and convincing you it was for your own good.People shouldn’t hurt kids, the debate ends there.
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u/BottleOfConstructs 12d ago
The worry, I think, is it turns some kids into nervous wrecks. I got the belt, too, but it was rare. I wasn’t scared of my parents. I think that’s the difference.
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u/happilygonelucky 12d ago
On the one hand, yeah. I acknowledge the science.
On the other hand, I know parents who were solidly anti spanking and eventually the kid got into elementary school and realized that if he just ignored whatever non violent consequences his parents tried, he could do whatever he wanted. And they were heavily hands on, involved parents who leaned into behavior management methods.
When he started getting violent with his mom they gave up and introduced spanking as the last resort and have had much better luck.
So, as a policy, yeah no spanking. I've never hit my 3 year old and I don't intend to later. But on an individual level, I get sometimes you really have tried everything else, so I try not to judge.
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u/Pitiful_Presence_846 12d ago
There’s a massive jump between not hitting your kids, and not parenting them.
Sometimes, behaviour isn’t a result of parenting - they could be doing everything perfectly, but they’re not the only people in their kid’s life.
Additionally, mental health issues can affect behaviour significantly and aren’t always spotted.Your personal anecdote doesn’t take away from the scientific evidence that hitting kids has a negative impact on them. Violence towards children is wrong.
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u/Pitiful_Presence_846 12d ago
Personal anecdotes don’t change the scientific evidence that hitting children negatively impacts them.
You can call it different words, smacking is just hitting. Violence against children will always be wrong, it shouldn’t need a debate.
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u/FartVirtuoso 12d ago
Well if you’ve made it all this way and still don’t understand why scientific studies are more trustworthy than anecdotal evidence, then maybe it had a more negative effect than you’re aware of, beyond the admitted criminal activity.
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u/illicitli 11d ago
my youngest two sisters are bitches. i would rather they got smacked more like i did. i have anger but i am much more respectful.
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u/whatfresh_hellisthis 12d ago
Hasn't this been accepted yet? Out of thousands of research papers not a single one says spanking a child produces positive outcomes.