The AAP Says You Should Never Spank Your Child
A report released from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) on Monday contains some pretty shocking findings. The organization that many consider to be the experts on the mental and physical health of kids in this country, updated their discipline guidelines According to the report, the AAP strongly recommends against parents resorting to "spanking, hitting, slapping, threatening, insulting, humiliating, or shaming" their child in order to discipline them - as these strategies are "minimally effective in the short-term, and non-effective in the long-term." in addition to not working, the AAP also says that these methods would put your child at an increased risk of "negative behavioral, cognitive, psychosocial, and emotional outcomes."
The latest statement from the AAP updates their recommendation from 1998, when they suggested parents "be encouraged and assisted in developing methods other than spanking in response to undesired behavior." After 20 years of additional research, the organization felt it was necessary to use more resolute and absolute language.
The new guidelines will be distributed to doctors who provide pediatric care. Those doctors will, in turn, advise parents struggling with discipline based upon their recommendations.