Does this change your mind about spanking? Spanking can lower your child's IQ

1. Posted by Rich on Fri, Sep 25, 2009

Improper discipline could possibly lower IQ scores, as this study suggests.Done properly,discipline(including spanking) can sweeten a rebellious child's disposition, making her much more receptive to instructions from a loving parent, and therefore increase the IQ of the child and give him a better outlook on life.All things should be done in balance.

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2. Posted by Rich on Fri, Sep 25, 2009

We all know that studies can be interpreted to say what we want them to say.

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3. Posted by Bill Whatcott on Fri, Sep 25, 2009

No, I spanked my children and will still do if I judge it necessary. This is a badly flawed study, which is really nothing more than left wing propaganda. The academic only studied children spanked three times or more in a week. Such excessive spanking would likely come from a dysfunctional home. My children have been spanked maybe 2 or 3 times a year for serious or repeated offenses. I have a great relationship with my kids and their IQs are above average. Spanking has been an effective form of discipline for me. Want to see so-called "bright" kids who have never been spanked? Check out a British pub or soccor match. Spanking has been outlawed for decades in Britain and even leftists are admitting their youth are out of control and their once venerable culture (in the days when spanking was allowed) is turning into a sewer. No thanks......

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4. Posted by andra on Fri, Sep 25, 2009

A factor of influence of how better the children do in school is the familial inheritence (i'm not talking about gene necessarily but more about the values, level of education in the family etc.). A more educated parent tend to have more educated children. More educated parent are more likely to choose better methods to educate a child. Spanking, is part of those methods that are directly influenced by the parent's education. There's no need of a study to confirm that kids who are usualy spanked don't do so good in school as those who are not spanked. Why? Simply because this method is applied nowdays more in families where the level of education is lower. The more educated the parent, the less spanking you see in the family. So, it's kind of darring to say that those kids do worse in school just because of spanking. They do worse because of a cumulus of factors like less parent involvement in kids' education, lower values, less stable families, etc. Do the researchers took into consideration all these factors? I don't believe spanking is a direct cause to those lower IQs. Spanking is a side efect of the type of education those parents are using in the same way that lower IQ can be a side effect of a poor parental education. Spanking alone it can't explain entirely the lower IQ those kids are scoring. But US is renowned for its studies and the conclusions draw from them. If I'm a friend of Anna and Anna is a friend of Lola, that doesn't mean I'm a friend of Lola. My two cents.

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5. Posted by ibetheboogins on Fri, Sep 25, 2009

Studies can be twisted to reflect whatever outcome the researcher wants, so this has to be considered as potentially flawed from the start. Consider too, that nowhere in this data does it indicate the IQ results of the parents who are in a backhanded way, being called child abusers. Genetics DO play a role. Overall, this study is a joke.

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6. Posted by Seren on Fri, Sep 25, 2009

Anecdotally, I have seen several children from non-spanking families who are undisciplined, rude, thoughtless spoiled brats. Some are intelligent and some are not. They know they can get away with anything and they do. I am obviously not advocating child abuse, but spanking on the rare occasion when deemed necessary seems to be a good disciplinary and instructional tool for some children who won't learn any other way.

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7. Posted by kerry m on Fri, Sep 25, 2009

It is amazing, the methods that people will stoop to to force their way of thinking upon the rest of us. Lies have become the new,(LOL), way of spreading propaganda. The end justifies the means & therefore lying is a perfectly acceptable way to bully everyone into living life their way. Studies are not interpreted to say what people want they simply ignore any part that doesn't agree with their belief. This method works so well it is employed by virtually every activist & political group in the world. I dread the conditions that my grandchildren will have to live in.

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8. Posted by PuckDat on Fri, Sep 25, 2009

If this study's result are true then I wonder what my IQ could have been. I was spanked regularly as a child and Mensa set my IQ at 168. I think someone is blowing a whole load of smoke up our backsides here by giving us a selective set of results that support their theory. Nothing new from the medical field. They've been doing it for years.

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9. Posted by Lorraine on Fri, Sep 25, 2009

Thank you for this study. For all the people who posted comments about how good Spanking was for their children I would like to ask two questions? Is there any criminal incarcerated today that did not receive corporal punishment when they were children? If it is okay to spank children how come it is no longer legal for for a man to beat his wife as long as it is with a stick no thicker then 3 inches? Come on grown ups! There are better ways to settle disagreements then with violence and spanking is a violent act!

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10. Posted by FLWC on Fri, Sep 25, 2009

Is it possible that lower IQs are the cause and not the result of the spanking? Perhaps children slower to learn are more frustrating - to their parents - and therefore more likely to be spanked. That possible slant on this story is just as unsavory as the one suggested in the article.

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11. Posted by cory on Fri, Sep 25, 2009

maybe children w/naturally low IQs r more likely 2 engage in activity that would result in spankings. who's funding all these worthless studies?

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12. Posted by Gimmeabreak on Fri, Sep 25, 2009

i don't entirely believe this study. Children need guidance, boundaries, responsibilities and know what the consequences could be when the line is crossed. Too many parents these days let their children run amok and unfortunately when it is too late the courts make the rules. Set a good example and help the youth set and achieve goals. I find that working as a team and a friend to the youth has much better results than being a dictator or tyrant. I encourage my children to question my decisions, this helps understanding and knowing the difference between right and wrong, and I didn't make this rule to be mean but for your best interest. We have to spend a great deal of time and energy raising children. Now a days it is an extra tough job.

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13. Posted by brady k on Fri, Sep 25, 2009

absolutely ludicrous.go ahead and raise a disrespectful,disobediant axe murderer,i will stick to our way.As far as Lorraine goes,my children are obediant,thoughtful and apparently extremely intelligent,but you can continue to put yours in the 1 minute timeout room.im so sick of the whining liberal left telling us all how to live.watch the nanny show if you want to see children who should be spanked .anyway people,get a life.worry about raising your own children and stay out of other peoples homes.

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14. Posted by lefty on Fri, Sep 25, 2009

I'm been spankd wen I wus a kid and um....i am Mensa because i did a test on the compyouter box. i am 168 IQ's cuz mensa says i was. hey. i terned out ok!

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15. Posted by anndouglas on Fri, Sep 25, 2009

I'm always intrigued by the reaction to these studies. If the study said that spanking made people smarter, would there be the same accusations that the studies are (1) flawed; or (2) part of a left-wing conspiracy? :-) (Couldn't resist asking.) Enjoying your comments very much (both pro and con). Keep them coming.

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16. Posted by Rob on Fri, Sep 25, 2009

Physical punishment of children is just plain wrong in most instances. Parents who resort to spanking as a routine aspect of discipline are, in my opinion, trying to take short cuts in the complicated but rewarding role of upbringing. When I grew up my parents, who were wannabe ecumenical Christians, used spanking including a belt or spatula as a carrot and stick approach to enforce my "proper bible guided" upbringing. All it did as make me angry and resentful of them and I left home at the earliest opportunity to get away from what I saw in later life as abuse. Yes they used the usual Christian excuse it was a "loving" punishment that "god" allowed parents to ensure that kids were on the right pathway in life. It was nothing like that at all and was in fact just downright meanness directed at a child out of frustration with life An occasional swat on the buttocks is okay by me but I draw the line when the belt was used for minor infractions like not eating your broccoli or sneaking a book into bed after lights out. So don't defend spanking and other forms of corporeal punishment because as the study indicates, there is a real and often lasting gap that develops between kids, parents and their future success in life..

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17. Posted by mapakettle7 on Fri, Sep 25, 2009

b.s. i am 70 years old i was spanked and will match my IQ with any one

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18. Posted by west cost man on Fri, Sep 25, 2009

I blame my lazy life and all of the stupid things i,ve done in it on a lack of discipline wile growing up. i was not spanked enough. i love my mom, but she did not have the ability to put her foot down as often as she should have. as a result i lacked the ability to function in the real world. every thing was to hard, every one was to mean, i became depressed as a result. did you know that the now huge homeless populations are 80s and 90s children? yes, that's the "self esteem, single mom, kid gloved" generation. and they are growing younger and larger in population with each generation.. ugh.. i rant to much.

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19. Posted by canuck1st on Fri, Sep 25, 2009

Bull - That would mean that a few children today have higher intelligence than 99% of all humankind that has gone before because those 99% were spanked at least once in their lives. Daily I see children who have never been disciplined in any manner, let alone spanking - they're abosolute brats and no one else even wants them around. They swear at the parents, hit, bite and they rule the household. Spanking - not beating - is an acceptable manner of discipline when talking does not work.

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20. Posted by Jane on Fri, Sep 25, 2009

My experience as an educator has proved that children who are not "spanked" are far rudder, much more insolent and definitely a lot more disrespectful. I'd like to know if there is a study that proves "spanked" children are better behaved, listen more and are and less likely to get into trouble at school.

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21. Posted by jtossounian on Fri, Sep 25, 2009

Perhaps is the kids with the lower IQs that need to be spanked the most to make them understand.

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22. Posted by Eddy on Fri, Sep 25, 2009

The REALITY of the issue is that parents with higher IQ's tend to lean toward punishment or disciplinary methods other than spanking, and parents with lower IQ's tend to lean toward spanking. The parental genetics as well as the educational levels of eiter group of parents are the REAL factors involved in whether or not a spanked child has lower or higher IQ. Not to say all spankers have low IQ's at all, of course, but we're talking about a generalization....which is exactly what this "study", and I use the term very loosely, finds. As far as this article is concerned, the "study" doesn't take into factor any external environmental variables, which a truly scientific research study would. This article is a joke.

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23. Posted by Night on Fri, Sep 25, 2009

I believe many of today's Brats would have been better off to have had a good swap on the behind more often than being catered to and their rantings and demands abided to. Lack of discipline causes disrespect and laziness. Beatings are not the same as a spanking. Maybe beaten kids are dumber but so are the very spoiled ones because they don't ever put in an effort they just sit back and demand. Many have smart mouths but sure not smart minds. I got a few stiff spankings as a kid but still got two degrees at University and had more respect for my parents than many of my spoiled friends whose parent's just handed them money instead of time with them and others whose parent's "negotiated". In our home our parents were the bosses and we were taught to respect and obey them and loved them more than our friends did theirs. I rarely had to strike my kids because they also knew who was the boss and what the consequences of bad behavior could mean. They need to burn all the child care and psych books and let the parents of today act like parents instead of servants. Kids today have no fear of reprisal and no respect because they know they can get away with whatever they like without being punished. "Spare the Rod and Spoil the Child" is what parents need to learn and kids need to realize that they too can get a good swat on the rear if they act up or disobey.

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24. Posted by dollywalker1 on Fri, Sep 25, 2009

Spanking is a euphemism for hittiing. No where else in society are we allowed to hit people to make them do what we want. I was hit by my adoptive mother until I was 15 over things like my bed wasn't made to her standards and I lived in fear of her. Couldn't wait to get the hell out of there. Haven't seen in her years. Children who are hit will resent their parents for it later. It degrades and changes who they are. In time, it will alienate them from you and they will resent you. I think the parents who do it have anger management issues, and poor coping skills. Usually, the hitting has nothing to do with what the child has done. I don't know how anyone can hit a child and sleep at night.

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25. Posted by Dick Hurtz on Fri, Sep 25, 2009

What a load of utter crap!

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26. Posted by Louis B on Fri, Sep 25, 2009

Michael Jackson was spanked. Tell me, did he lost his IQ? He became the King of POP BRO!!!!!! Who's the subjects by the way? 10 kids from your neighborhood?

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27. Posted by FRANCE on Fri, Sep 25, 2009

If the parents don't spank thier own children to keep them in ckeck so they may have respect, and live longer lives, the police will use the guns to spank them when they are older which often result in death. A spank never lowers or increases IQ's, it teaches a rude child to know thier place and that the parents are in charge not them nor society children connot raise themselves they need parental guidence. Many children are alive today because of a spank like wise many are dead and or committing crimes because of no discipline, the question is who knows a child more the researchers or the Parents?

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28. Posted by Lina on Fri, Sep 25, 2009

This article is funny.

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29. Posted by eliz on Fri, Sep 25, 2009

Bill, the behavior of British youth has nothing to do with not being spanked as children, but more to do with parents who would rather spend time in the pubs and bingo halls than with their children.

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30. Posted by keimgar3 on Fri, Sep 25, 2009

REALLY????????????? YOU DON'T SAY!!!!!!!!!!! WHY DON'T THEY SPEND MONEY ON RESEARCH THAT WILL HELP A SERIOUS CAUSE!!!!!!

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