Posted on 09/24/2009 7:16:10 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Spanking can get kids to behave in a hurry, but new research suggests it can do more harm than good to their noggins. The study, involving hundreds of U.S. children, showed the more a child was spanked the lower his or her IQ compared with others.
"All parents want smart children," said study researcher Murray Straus of the University of New Hampshire. "This research shows that avoiding spanking and correcting misbehavior in other ways can help that happen."
One might ask, however, whether children who are spanked tend to come from backgrounds in which education opportunities are less or inherited intelligence lower.
But while the results only show an association between spanking and intelligence, Straus says his methodology and the fact that he took into account other factors that could be at play (such as parents' socioeconomic status) make a good case for a causal link.
"You can't say it proves it, but I think it rules out so many other alternatives; I am convinced that spanking does cause a slowdown in a child's development of mental abilities," Straus told LiveScience.
Intelligence quotients
Straus and his colleague Mallie Paschall of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation in Maryland studied nationally representative samples of two age groups: 806 children ages 2 to 4, and 704 ages 5 to 9. The researchers tested the kids' IQs initially and then four years later.
Both groups of kids got smarter after four years. But the 2- to 4-year-olds who were spanked scored 5 points lower on the IQ test than those not spanked. For children ages 5 to 9, the spanked ones scored on average 2.8 points lower than their unspanked counterparts.
The results, he said, were statistically significant. .. ..
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
Uh...is this based on the same ‘science’ as global warming? Oh nevermind.
Let’s see....what do we know for sure. Well, we know that most liberals don’t spank their kids (and ergo, most liberals’ kids are raving brats - just watch Supernanny for evidence of that). And we also know that most scientists are liberals.
Hmmmmmm....I wonder if there’s a connection between those two facts and the release of this study.....?
And what do you wanna bet that our tax money paid for this bogus BS.
Hey, if the kid weren’t stupid to start with, the spankings probably wouldn’t be warranted.
Tripe.
Which came first the spanking or low IQ.
Can’t stand studies [often TAXPAYER funded] which utilize the most flawed parameters and questions. Ugh.
What was really funny was when my mom tried just using her hand once. It not only didn’t hurt, it made me start laughing. The harder I laughed, the harder she ‘tried’ to spank (I had really pissed her off). It was hilarious! I think I lost my phone in my bedroom over that laughing fit. Now that REALLY hurt. It wasn’t worth it. Shoulda faked croc tears!
“This study is pure manure.”
You can not change a person’s IQ. Aren’t they born with it?
Exactly. Another in a heap of examples of so called 'research' where the result is decided upon, and then the supporting 'evidence' is manufactured. More "global warming" if you will.
“Maybe kids who got spanked less were quick learners.”
Or girls.
My mother made us walk to the end of the driveway and bring her a branch off the tree to spank us with.
My coaches and school principals and male classroom teachers and wood shop teachers all competed with their various theories on how to make their homemade/shop made boards deliver the worst swats. Some believed in holes, some in tape, some thought that long and skinny was the most painful and others went for wide. I held the class records in Junior High and in High School yet I graduated and for a while my name was in the phone book of a big and important city.
I figured out that I had to hide the paddle, which I did. :-)
My father used to strap us with his belt. It didn’t jar our brains one bit— but it hurt like heck. He didn’t have to do it very often!
according to this, I should be mentally retarded.
And we also know that most scientists are liberals.
I don’t buy that! Scientists use facts,reason and logic to problem solve. Liberals use emotion. Huge difference!
Children who don’t act dumb.
Sounds like a smart move...
Most walmart shoppers are Republican - I doubt they’re called “walmart kids”... More like “target kids” - democrats...
Good one ...
THAT is the essence of it.
Children with lower IQs more likely to be spanked.
Chicken and the egg.
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