New research indicates that spanking has minimal effects on children’s development, explaining less than 1% of behavioral outcomes. The study suggests that controlled, limited spanking may be effective for some young children, especially when used alongside milder discipline methods.
…and there’s the rub. Far too often it’s not used appropriately. And people’s ideas of what is appropriate is colored by whether they too were beaten as a child.
Agreed. But that doesn’t effect my point, or even the study.
Almost everything with an effective appropriate use can also be misused.