Spanking and Child Development: We Know Enough Now to Stop Hitting Our Children
Child Development Perspectives
Published online on July 10, 2013
Abstract
Spanking remains a common, if controversial, childrearing practice in the United States. In this article, I pair mounting research indicating that spanking is both ineffective and harmful with professional and human rights opinions disavowing the practice. I conclude that spanking is a form of violence against children that should no longer be a part of American childrearing.