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To spank or not to spank. This is a dilemma many parents struggle with. In the spanking debate, the line between a parent's right to discipline a child and the child's right to be protected from abuse is sometimes ridiculously obscured. To claim that a swift spanking on a toddler's bottom for touching a hot stove is physical abuse, is as ludicrous as claiming that not spanking will turn children into spoiled, undisciplined drains on society. However, no matter what side of the debate you come from, there are several good reasons why you should not spank your children.

* Spanking is linked to aggression and anxiety in children.
* Spanking can impair empathy.
* In the long run, excessive spanking is ineffective.
* It can degenerate into physical abuse.

~ Aggression and Anxiety ~

There is a growing awareness regarding aggression and anxiety in children who are physically disciplined. One culturally diverse study involving more than five countries published in the journal, Child Development (Volume 76, November 2005), found that children who were subjected to spankings as a primary form of discipline were significantly more likely to exhibit aggression and anxiety. This was true across the board regardless of cultural norms.

A similar conclusion was arrived at in another study conducted by Tulane University researcher, Catherine Taylor. She looked at aggression in 3-year-olds who were regularly spanked and compared the data to children who were not subjected to physical discipline. She found that the children who were spanked were twice as likely to display excessive aggression two year later.

From a neutral standpoint, the idea that frequent spanking increases aggression in children makes sense. Spanking is striking a child, whether a diapered toddler or a potty trained 5-year-old, and striking is by definition aggressive and violent. Moreover, children learn from what they see and are exposed to. If they are regularly exposed to physical punishment and therefore aggression, it stands to reason that they will then express that same aggression themselves. Violence begets violence and this also applies to children who are routinely subjected to spankings.

The threat of violence, even if it is in the form of a spanking, produces anxiety in most human beings regardless of age, race or gender. When children are constantly spanked for every conceivable disciplinary issue it creates a sense of anxiety within them. They learn to fear the threat of a spanking itself, rather

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