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With a switch or a bare hand, spanking children has been a form of discipline, but an OSU’s professor’s developing research shows spanking is a source of controversy.
Michael Criss, an assistant professor of human development and family science, said spanking doesn’t teach a child a lesson.
“The child won’t be able to internalize anything,” Criss said. “There are more effective ways.”
Criss’ research concentrates on families maintaining physical punishment from ages 6 to 15.
Families with a high and stable amount of physical punishment have children who display more anti-social behavior and can have an even worse relationship with their parents, Criss said.
“Punishment should be an opportunity for teaching your child,” he said. “Parents should teach their children other ways they should have acted in that situation.”
Criss said spanking is only appropriate when children who don’t talk yet need an immediate response, Criss said.
But not all experts are entirely against spanking.
Robert Larzelere, a research methodologist in the human development and family science department, said his research showed that spanking children from the ages of 4 to 6 could be favorable.
“Reasoning works better with consequences,” Larzelere said. “When I compared non-physical and physical punishment paired with reasoning, they had equal results with 2- and 3-year-olds.”
Reasoning improved behavior more after it was backed with consequences, preferably non-physical ones, Larzelere said.
With 2- to 6-year-olds, parents should limit spanking as a last resort to enforce time out or privilege removal, Larzelere said.
Criss and Larzelere agree parents should be proactive to prevent the need to use physical punishment. They should emphasize explaining or inductive reasoning when punishing children. Both experts emphasize a gradual decrease of physical punishment, but they differ on the age in which the phase out should occur.
For students that were spanked as children, opinions might vary depending on experience as to their effects over time.
Brooke Fielder, an engineering freshman, said spanking did not negatively affect her.
“It never happened often, and it only happened when was I really was bad,” Fielder said.
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