ok to be the devils buddy here... ever think the kid was just dumb to being with... and this is the only form of communication that gets through that massive block of stupidity between thier ears?

Being a parent myself I decided to talk to the child protection agency about this. The investigator supported spanking toddlers. An open handed smack on the butt that doesn't leave a mark is the only thing that is appropriate. Sometimes kids can't comprehend what they did is wrong. Or, which I'm at this stage with my kid, will push the limit to the point that the only way they will understand you are pissed is with a smack on the ass. As for the IQ crap, it is based on the child's upbringing, whether or not the parent is concentrating on the kid's cognitive growth, and the interaction of the parent with the child. I guarantee there are stupid people out there that were never spanked. And finally for a kid being traumatized... Your memory isn't completely developed until at least 4 years of age. Any younger than that, and the kid can only remember days at a time. Now consistency of people is what makes them remember that, and of things, but actions that have occurred. Ha. The traumatizing thing to the kid is that mommy and daddy are pissed. That's why the kid is screaming. Time out doesn't always send the message. Moderation is key. You want a smart kid, interact with them, talk to them like people, have them help with things around the house, read to them, play with them, converse with them and so forth. It's not that hard to act like a parent. This thing is a load of shit. No other factors were taken into consideration.

LOL...ECHOZ...you are the ultimate example of why it doesn't work, full of anger...but thanks for the laughs...

for some it genuinely is, wayseeker, and no matter how revoltingly averse, or in denial you are as a "potentate" victim of your own "success." I AM one to speak truthfully that SPANKING GETS RESULTS, when reason is completely rejected. Physical discipline is not wrong nor evil. It's not stupid either.

Consider even in places where the laws are so strict they cut off your hands for stealing. Guess what: they don't steal too much. And, you wouldn't either, and not just because you're so "good" wayseeker...heh

Consider now in places where they throw you in jail for drunk driving for up to a year I understand, first offense. Like it or not, I bet it may soon have some affect. Now you may say this isn't physical violence but I think effectively losing your life to do jail time over a single offense; well, you might reconsider a new definition for violence after that experience, and wish you'd been beaten instead!

There is a time for literally everything under the sun and you would be a complete ass to disbelieve that very sincere fact of life. Different children require different wisdoms to confront different prevailing attitudes and circumstances. Your one-size-fits-all approach to "never" is physical discipline necessary or effective is bullshit. It's the truth and you don't have to like it. You've done well enough to avoid it. But for some, and I include my own life whence a child, it's a much different story...

AND "IQ" in academics doesn't always translate to success in ways that people think. It's actually stupid to assume that, and I'm not saying that you do, just that I think your attitude perhaps leaves that possibility open. It's ingrained misplaced superiority I feel more often than not, so to me, it's not just a casual thing the history of so many Fortune 500 aren't even college-educated, it's unavoidably true, like spanking, when only "IQ" should "do"...heh

There are so many outliers to this, it's hard to come to a conclusion. But then again, several other studies have shown that there is a correlation between spanking and: decreased internalization of morals, increased delinquency and antisocial behavior for children, and poorer mental health of child and adult (Gershoff 2002). Surprisingly though, there have been few scientifically sounded studies regarding this topic.

The study I referenced defined spanking as; "Hitting a child open handed on the buttocks or extremities with intent to discipline without leaving a bruise or causing physical harm."

Corporal abuse was defined as; "Punishment that is harsh and excessive, involves use of objects, is directed to parts of the body other than extremities, causes or has the potential to cause harm physical harm."

There is always going to be outliers and it's important not to mistake correlation with causation...

a lot of great minds and people were beat or spanked or abused and a lot of serial killers were too. But then again it's also possible that many of those same kinds of people were just not loved enough or maybe even too much. ...?

My wife and I raised 5 children who didn't receive one spanking. We didn't need to spank because my wife, a special education teacher, knew how, and taught me how to discipline without spanking. All five children have high IQ's and are successful professionals. If we could do it, others can learn to do it. So I don't know if the spanking vs IQ is correct but I know one thing. Don't try to tell me that hitting a child is a must for a well behaved child because that sir is bullshit.

This is foolishness... "Spare the rod, spoil the child", that is extra true! A child with no discipline becomes a rotten adult with improper moral standards... Remember the term "spoiled brat?" That's not to say abuse your kids: children should NEVER be spanked out of anger. But we (America) are the fools who want others to raise our children so we allow them to learn all kinds of foolishness without teaching them any real concept of right or wrong... Disciplining a child without teaching them to learn from it is not rehabilitation... Disciplining a child out of emotion of any kind is not discipline, it's abuse. Teach people to be REAL PARENTS. And by the way... I was disciplined with spankings, yet I was walking & talking by 1-1/2yrs, actually reading by 3yrs, doing 1st grade math b4 preschool, in gifted classes, excel at chemistry, biology & metaphysical theory, as well as taught myself to do things like chi-gong CORRECTLY, without a qualified teacher... So this has got to be the biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard! All it takes is correct education and correct discipline to produce intelligent people... and turn the fucking T.V. off! Sit down and eat with your kids! Get to know your kids as people, instead of as subjects or tenants. Enough said. Thank you.

The American study does not conclude that spanking "causes" restrictions in cognitive development . . . what it concludes is that the group of children that happen to not be spanked/smacked happen to have greater cognitive development on average than the group of children that are spanked and/or smacked.

The group of parents that spank may very well be more likely on average to be doing OTHER things that are restraining cognitive development than parents that do not spank . . . or to say it the other way, parents (on average) that do not spank their children may be doing things that increase cognitive development in their children more so than the parents (on average) that spank.

There are way to many unaccounted for variables in the parenting besides spanking (like do the parents play games with their children that stimulate cognitive growth?) in this study to conclude one way or another . . . even the authors admit that this study does not prove that spanking causes a stifling of cognitive development, but merely supports the idea.

Personally, I would be inclined to think that parents who are not spanking their children are also doing OTHER things to promote cognitive growth. (Meaning: not spanking is an INDICATOR of parenting that is more likely to be doing more things to promote cognitive development.)

Also, the graph in the international study between habitual spanking pre-12 years vs the national IQ is somewhat of a joke. The data would have a much more linear fit if the national IQ corresponds to national standards of education instead of spanking.

Furthermore, if you compare Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea (countries with relatively similar cultures and high standards of education) than you see an almost zero change of national IQ from countries with 10% habitual spanking (Japan with national IQ of 105) versus a country with 37% habitual spanking (Taiwan with national IQ of 104) . . . that alone is evidence to the contrary.

The international study:
http://pubpages.unh.edu/~mas2/Cp98D%20CP%20%20IQ%20world-wide.pdf

The American study:
http://pubpages.unh.edu/~mas2/CP51.pdf

NPR's report (which is better than the one posted):
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2009/09/does_spanking_make_kids_dumber.html

As I've said, If I would never ever hit my dog even slightly. Why would I hit my child even slightly?

its in various cultures.... study all of those kids and compare their socioeconomic status, education and their parent education...then come back and show me the results

I don't have kids, but I'm tired of child psychology babble.
I'm leaving right now to go spanks somebody else's kids. First kid I see on the street gets it.

you don't have a case eden49...if a dog chewed up a pair of your most favorite ever impossible-to-get high heels like a pair of steak bones you'd likely have more than word "escorting" him out to say the least...I've seen it happen...or in my not so humble point of view,it's rather YOU who would really be a very strange freak who's idealism is complete even asinine narcissism to the nth freakish degree...

This is what I believe in, that spanking is detrimental...you have your opinion, and I have mine. And as to your reference to animals, well, mine could chew up 10 Louis Vuitton bags if they wanted, and it would never dawn on me to harm a defenceless animal. And if that makes me a strange freak, I will take that label with pride. You don't have to deliver your opinion with name calling, I didn't need to...

idk i used to gt my ass spanked and im pretty smart.

My father was abused by his father. No one would ever know unless they lived with him. He was not taught the right way to do many things a father should do but he put forth so much effort to not be his father that it's quite noticeable. I have seen him get angry. I've seen him get mad and I've seen him get furious and none of those times has he ever hit anyone because I'm sure he can see where it's headed and who he reminds himself of. Yes it was scary. But I was never mad at him. When I see him do that i think of how terrible his father was to him and how he stole my father from me.

My dad is a good dad but he probably thinks he could have been better and he's right, he could have if he had a father that was even a father.

I look at his brothers and one sister and see that my father tries the hardest to not be his dad and the hardest to be better than and to not let the past dictate his future. He has never blamed his dad for how he acts.

One time he told me how he was so disappointed in what I had done and he started to cry because he told me a story of when he was younger with his dad. I had never felt so bad for what I had ever done until that moment. It was an attitude thing....after middle school and how terrible children are then I was pretty much angry and sarcastic and probably not that pleasant.

He spanked us, though. He never did so when he was mad and he always said how many times he was going to do it. Never above 3 times....it was numbered for him more so than for us. I remembered him spanking me 2. I can remember one time he said he was going to but didn't.

And he was abused and every single person that meets him thinks he's so smart and funny and there are those few that just don't like him because of what he knows. He can find someone to talk to no matter where he is and that is why when we were little we'd want a separate car because once he started talking...god only knew when he'd be finish.

only if the kids a pussy or the parents an evil jerk in my opinion.

all the kids that have become adults i know have been "spanked" in one form or another some are engineers and some are managers and some are retail associates.

crock of shit. if you hit your kid though at least make sure they understand the reason for the hitting and dont just say because i said so.

lots of stuff affects iq's. This fact is true: Kids who hold their breath for a long time or spin around to get dizzy also do better on early iq tests.

Total bullshit. Nothing better than a good spanking to bring a snotty ass kid down a few notches, teaches repsect. Not saying beat them half to death over spilled milk. But a few smacks on the ass says no better than just telling your kid "now don't do that,"

It's probably worth mentioning again, as undoubtedly it likely already has been somewhere in this thread that IQ is not a permanent fixture. It varies even from test to test, and everyone is right to be skeptical of the criteria used for these kinds of "social-conditioning" 'studies.'

who pays for crap like this instead of actually educating children???!!!

That's crap!!

I was spanked as a child and I have an IQ of 120

disciplining in any real anger is not the best thing at any time. parents really do need to keep their cool. I also think parents should attempt to be intelligent and creative and not reach for corporal punishment as the first resort or even the last word on anything at all. If the behavior of a child persists beyond repeated attempts at more reasonable approaches, such that you need to curb it with stated and agreed consequences as a last known resort, children also learn to respect their parents for providing proper boundaries. That's not a bad thing if parents stay level-headed and true to love for the better lives of their children.

children are a blessing. but sometimes better application must be imposed where self-discipline fails. we are all only human, and everyone of us has been a child with selfish intents that the rest of the world can wait on us ;)

that said, I find people who philosophically differ with proper physical discipline to be like people who smugly say quite idealistically they don't believe in guns, only to find themselves in a war...Not stupid by any means, respectfully self-respecting by most cases I guess, but perhaps just a little more justifiably leery of the insensitive abuses of corporal punishment and the equally bad affects they can have on the self-esteem of children. But children are remarkably resilient and not all parents are as abusive or as insensitive as fears may begrudge...

the bible says spare the rod, and spoil the child. to me it means one has to learn to live within some reasonable constraints that a child may think to defy whether a parent likes it or not. and depending on the speed of life, in defense of parents, it's not always convenient to debate.

take that kid making a loud embarrassing scene for his mother in the toy aisle cuz mom won't buy him the toys he keeps throwing in the basket... ;) we're not obligated to raise little hitlers, so I don't deplore parents who handle the such undesirable practical matters with appropriate if usually more private tact. Parents aren't "punching bags" either after all ;) lol

In my youth I went to Catholic school. Today I am grateful for my nun teachers who straightened my unruly ass out in a hurry.... Keep to it.

I was spanked as a child. I don't think my IQ suffered any from it. But I did understand established boundaries. Most people think that spanking somehow damages a child or feel that it breeds fear into a child. If it is done in moderation, it actually instills a sense of consequences for actions; establishes a boundary. Having one mode of discipline is not failsafe; utilizing all modes of discipline to establish boundaries, including spanking should be used. I feel, and this is my opinion, that when corporal punishment was taken out of schools, power was taken away from the teachers and given to the students. A balance in discipline is what is needed; not the ostracization of one form of punishment.

What the hell? Obviously these people -who have done the research are either A- not parents; B- huge fat liars or C- have bratty uncontrollable kids. Being a parent myself, I spank my daughter. She gets a little wap on the butt if nothing else works to show that she is not listening. I swear people act as if you are brutally beating your child if you give them a slap on the butt. Hasn't anyone ever thought that the child is crying because their parent is angry? Parents pat their toddlers on the butt regularly. We can't help it! their butts are so cute! But noo, if your kid starts screaming then its automatically abuse. Here's a funny thing to think about- Kids, including mine, at times aren't even phased when they are slapped on the ass. On more than one occasion my daughter has smiled, laughed and continued what she was doing after I spanked her on the butt. Spanking isn't abuse, and it isn't traumatizing to a toddler that won't remember it 20 years down the road. It is physiologically impossible for someone under 3 to remember anything for more than a few days. And for kids older than that, what is it going to do? You can't spank a kid that's older than 6. There's no purpose. That;s when grounding starts
Seriously, how does it cause PTSD. What, if the person gets their ass slapped during sex they're going to have a flashback to when their parent was angry at them for putting gum in their siblings hair? Be serious people!
On top of that, PTSD doesn't lower someones IQ, I don't care what the statistics say. There are many capable very intelligent people out there that have been abused to a worse extent as a child. You cannot broadly stereotype people because of events that have happened in their lives. Everyone is different.
I dislike these independent studies greatly. They generalize things and publish them without weighing out the other factors.
Abuse is wrong. Especially child abuse. Spanking though, I think its taken out of context. A hand to the butt once in a while isn't going to ruin a kids life. Unless they are talking about extreme cases- like spanking until the kid is bloody, or with a belt. That's abuse.
You know if they have enough money to fund this, why don't they do a study on how child abuse is more acceptable legally than animal abuse? That there has to be extreme abuse, I mean the kid has to be 3 steps away from deaths door to be taken away from bad parents?That parents that are heavily addicted to drugs are allowed to keep custody, even though the gov knows? I live in a state in which this has actually happened. The kids get taken away only if extreme, and I mean extreme cases occur, broken bones and near death cases. But if you leave your dog in the car while you run into a store without the window more than just cracked, you're arrested and thrown in jail.Why not for a kid? Seriously? They have signs at the child services department for parents to bring in their kids and not leave them in cars. Parents do this!
So think, after reading my long response, is it right to spend money to run an unreliable study that is based on a few kids to stereotype their intelligence and say that they are forever traumatized because they had a slap on the ass before they could even remember that may or may not affect them? I think these studies are bullshit.

What the hell? Obviously these people -who have done the research are either A- not parents; B- huge fat liars or C- have bratty uncontrollable kids. Being a parent myself, I spank my daughter. She gets a little wap on the butt if nothing else works to show that she is not listening. I swear people act as if you are brutally beating your child if you give them a slap on the butt. Hasn't anyone ever thought that the child is crying because their parent is angry? Parents pat their toddlers on the butt regularly. We can't help it! their butts are so cute! But noo, if your kid starts screaming then its automatically abuse. Here's a funny thing to think about- Kids, including mine, at times aren't even phased when they are slapped on the ass. On more than one occasion my daughter has smiled, laughed and continued what she was doing after I spanked her on the butt. Spanking isn't abuse, and it isn't traumatizing to a toddler that won't remember it 20 years down the road. It is physiologically impossible for someone under 3 to remember anything for more than a few days. And for kids older than that, what is it going to do? You can't spank a kid that's older than 6. There's no purpose. That;s when grounding starts
Seriously, how does it cause PTSD. What, if the person gets their ass slapped during sex they're going to have a flashback to when their parent was angry at them for putting gum in their siblings hair? Be serious people!
On top of that, PTSD doesn't lower someones IQ, I don't care what the statistics say. There are many capable very intelligent people out there that have been abused to a worse extent as a child. You cannot broadly stereotype people because of events that have happened in their lives. Everyone is different.
I dislike these independent studies greatly. They generalize things and publish them without weighing out the other factors.
Abuse is wrong. Especially child abuse. Spanking though, I think its taken out of context. A hand to the butt once in a while isn't going to ruin a kids life. Unless they are talking about extreme cases- like spanking until the kid is bloody, or with a belt. That's abuse.
You know if they have enough money to fund this, why don't they do a study on how child abuse is more acceptable legally than animal abuse? That there has to be extreme abuse, I mean the kid has to be 3 steps away from deaths door to be taken away from bad parents?That parents that are heavily addicted to drugs are allowed to keep custody, even though the gov knows? I live in a state in which this has actually happened. The kids get taken away only if extreme, and I mean extreme cases occur, broken bones and near death cases. But if you leave your dog in the car while you run into a store without the window more than just cracked, you're arrested and thrown in jail.Why not for a kid? Seriously? They have signs at the child services department for parents to bring in their kids and not leave them in cars. Parents do this!
So think, after reading my long response, is it right to spend money to run an unreliable study that is based on a few kids to stereotype their intelligence and say that they are forever traumatized because they had a slap on the ass before they could even remember that may or may not affect them? I think these studies are bullshit.

BS. i was spanked as a kid, it kept me from doing stupid shit again. not beaten, that's wrong, but spanking will not make your kids any more dumb than they already are.

Current so far is the following:

Anti-Christian.
Anti-Spanking.
Anti-Republican.
Anti-Conservative.
Anti-Criticize Obama.
Anti-Respect.

There was already a popular article/thread/whatever posted about spanking and now that it shows that it's LOWER IQ there's another?

It specifies in the article it matters how it's done. But that's the point of posting it....especially not by the person who decided to share it and make it KNOWN. Hate something make sure those that do it are seen as stupid. What a scared tactic.

Not that it matters, because it's already at the top, but I vote this down. It's not necessary to point out that abuse lowers children and their IQ. But stating spanking does it makes it a more popular article. I know the article is titled just like this thread, but that doesn't make what I stated any different.

Oh an Current is starting to become:

Anti-Open minded.

And I won't be scared to stop posting here by the likes of most of you.

Continue your witch hunt. It's cute.

at some point we must all make our own decisions and stop blamimg other or history for what we do or make of our lives. spanking, no spanking is bs excuse for not taking responsibility.

Spanked big time and very successfull.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: discipline and punishment are TWO different things. My IQ is 186 and I could have been just one step closer to 200 if I wasn't beat as a child.

As I pointed out above The results can have bad effects, some of which would lower the measured IQ. The research is showing just a few points so a person who might have measured at 160 only measures at 150 so that would not be noticed except when a large group is measured.

More problematic is a loss of empathy that makes the person perhaps more "successful" in that they are not bothered by acts that would seriously gag others. But the results are not good for others.

This is where James Dobson is doing tremendous damage, and doing so with the foreknowledge of that but doing so for power and money http://www.harpers.org/archive/2009/09/hbc-90005678

Of course spanking is bad for your IQ. Any sort of abuse is going to effect performance.

Those people who defend spanking are idiots. Violence is always wrong. Hitting children is always wrong.

What a crock! Look at these kids today who grew up in the "Don't hit your kids" era. Horrible!

I think that it should be the other way around. Whenever i got my ass beat for doin something wrong it just made me think harder about what I was doing so my parents would'nt find out and beat me again...and it worked...

Some people find the memory of being physically punished so unpleasant they pretend that they were trivial, even funny. You’ll notice that they smile when they describe what was done to them. It is shame, not pleasure, that makes them smile. As a protection against present pain, they disguise the memory of past feelings. In an attempt to deny or minimize the dangers of spanking, many spankers have been heard to argue, ‘Spanking is very different from child abuse,’ or ‘A little smack on the bottom never did anybody any harm.’ But they are wrong. Most victims of food poisoning recover with no apparent, lasting ill effects. But who needs it? The mere fact that the person is likely to survive is hardly proof that the experience is beneficial...

Actually there has been a lot of research into different aspects of the results, and lower IQ is only one. There are entire syndromes related to child abuse that is often passed off as strict, when it is often less engaging than the parents who work up alternatives to bad behavior that take more time & attention, but get better results.

I did a long blog post on this several years ago at http://freedemocrat.blogspot.com/2007/04/generation-of-monsters.html there are links there and http://patternsthatconnect.blogspot.com/2006/03/rightwing-authoritarianism-and.h... that highlight other parts of the syndrome that would also reflect as lower IQ

You are absolutely right BKsays. "it's the environment you live in that dictates your mental state." In other words if you are physically assaulted by your angry parents it will dictate your mental state. Thanks for making the case against hitting your child so clearly.

I have a pretty high iq and I got my ass spanked as a kid. Don't think this is credible it's the enviroment you live in that dictates your mental state. This is just like that one study that says spanking gives children psychological disorders. I think there are some bitter scientists out there is my theory.

Good comment eden49,but I'm afraid here it reached mostly deaf ears. Spanking is hitting and hitting is violence. Hitting is sending a message that's it's alright to bully someone you outweigh by 150 lbs. It's sending a message that if you don't like what someone is doing you should physically assault them. It's I like you more when you're in pain. Most spankings are inflicted by parents in rage and out of control. But eden49, these people who so vocally demand their right to assault their kids hear only the sound of their own voice and this is why instead of hearing what their precious children are trying to say they hit them.

I have a pretty high iq and I got my ass spanked as a kid. Don't think this is credible it's the enviroment you live in that dictates your mental state. This is just like that one study that says spanking gives children psychological disorders. I think there are some bitter scientists out there is my theory.

Well, obviously.

i call bullshit. verbal abuse is much more detrimental to a persons mental health. are we going to try and outlaw talking next. plus there are too many variables in a persons life to link it to one specific thing.

... but better manners. WHAPP!

Huh. My ass.

Well Damn, I should be mad at my parents, I could have been in the "gifted" class with all my friends, instead I had to work my ass off to get the same grades!

In Japan I was awarded a scholarship out of high school even though I skipped grades and was only 16. If Dad didn't spank me I could have done it at 14! (OMG that is too young to be out on your own, really! policy in their family is when you graduate HS, you are an adult, fly, fly! bye!)

Damnit Dad! I might have had above a 4.0 average in college too if you didn't spank me! WTH were you thinking?

Even when I got creative and painted blood on the "board of education" lol I was never bruised or unable to sit after a spanking, and when I was older, other methods of punishments were used.

sighs. DAD it's all your fault, I had to actually work to succeed in life. And that made success all the sweeter.

I rest my case...

Spanking out of anger? No.…but I was spanked as a child and I appreciate my parents more because of it. If my kids do something bad or inappropriate I will take them aside, explain to them what they did wrong, and then spank their bottom.

And yes… I've bopped my dog on the nose/bum or poked her in the neck (Cesar style) if she is misbehaving.

Is it because the family that spanks their children are less likely to rely on verbal communication to teach their children to behave? If children do not receive enough verbal communication, they can become stunted.

There are so many variables in this type of study and they need to isolate more to find out if it is the spanking or the lack of congnitive stimulation in the environment and also do poor people from disadvantaged environments spank more?

Australian courts have gone further, banning parents from physically disciplining their children altogether. In the case mentioned above, the Family Court last year restrained the mother from using physical punishment against her children aged nine, 10 and 12. In a 2007 case, where a father smacked his three-year-old son for refusing to pick up his toys, Justice Mark Le Poer Trench said: "There can be no defence of corporal punishment for young children in an advanced Western civilised society."

Similarly, in June, a 42-year-old Darwin father was reportedly fined $1000 for smacking his five-year-old daughter with a belt four times on the bottom. "In the modern age, physical punishment of children is seen to be barbaric," the magistrate said.

I think the study is bunk.

Kids with lower IQ's do things that prompt their parents to spank them.

Kids with higher IQ's are smart enough to avoid a good spanking.

Of course that is probably a bunk guess as well.

Who's funding this ridiculous research?

At one time it was common place for parents to use the belt and those kids grew up just fine. I am not condoning it but come on, in the next few years parents will only be able to touch their own kids with plastic gloves.

And this relates how? Less educated parents? More exhausted parents who work lower income jobs? More conservative parents?

Elephants are gray but not all gray things are elephants.

I guess I'm a good example. My parents never felt the need to spank me, I never really got in trouble. And I had a 3.8 grade average in highschool. I'm not saying the study is completely true, but it worked in my case lol.

having been a crazy out of control kid myself, i was not spanked but "disciplined" physically. the worse my behavior, the worse the punishment got. did it restrain me me as a child? yes. but as a teenager, for me, it was payback time toward anyone, even my parents.

i have so far learned in my short life that the things i did as a child, that did not make sense to my parents or some teachers, made total sense to me at the time. a child's behavior can be indicative of their emotional state. because they are in a constant state of emotional as well as physical development (aren't we all?), being in tune with the way they communicate toward us adults, behaviorally, is how we are able to understand them individually and nurture them psychologically. being able to "read" their behavior also can help the early recognition and prevention of further development of many disorders.

IMO, emotionally independent adults, compared to emotionally dependent adults, live noticeably different life styles.

This is one of the most inane pieces of "research" I think I've ever seen.

People only hit their kids because they can. That's why when kids get to be as tall or weigh as much as their parents the hitting usually stops. It's hard to clobber someone who may just clomp you upside the head in return. I think people should question whether they would hit that child if he or she was equal in size or weight to them and then reconsider the spanking or hitting before doing it. In a few cases they may still decide to spank, but many times they would realize it's not necessary or productive. Of course a lot of people who spank or hit their children are just mean S.O.B.s or drunks and none of this would apply because they are not thoughtful and do not like to read. (probably low I.Q. as well.)

I guess parents who hit their children should ask themselves if its ok to hit:
your dog
your neighbor
your boss
your local policeman

.. didn't think so

I was spanked and not only did it not lower my IQ, if anything it probably helped. It helped me concentrate better and be more attentive.

this has to depend on the child of course..this does not go for ever child of course....a spankings worked wonders on me, and turned out fine. for my sister spankings didnt work for her..and you just can say that by only taking 10 people to study. It depends on the child and the parents.

i believe that spanking has nothing to do with how high or low your IQ is,it just differs the way we think and thus process our surrounding's and way of life.

I call bs on this!

I'm sure there is more to it. There has to be other factors, it's probably a combination of spanking, genes, and surroundings. This just sounds like another way to get people to stop spanking there kids. Of course this study was done in California. Interesting though.

I was spanked, I have a high IQ. Statistical outlier? Possibly. I'm not opposed to spanking.

we have MILLIONS of people with NO health insurance!

you're checking their IQ afte 2 years? how about more than that. And to reply to the post about hitting a child instills fear in them, HELL YES it does, it also teaches kids to sit the fuck down and shut up. When you're a kid you don't know what's right or wrong,if you want a child to learn quickly and effectively something you need to show them that if they do wrong it will inevitably end in pain so that they won't do that again. When I was a kid I hated getting a wooping, but now that I'm older I know it was to put my ass in line.