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by Maggie Fox
Parents who hit their kids may believe that a "just gets their attention" or old-fashioned discipline, but spanking in fact makes it worse than it was before and can cause long-term harm, pediatricians said Monday.
The American Academy of Pediatrics strengthens its advice against corporal punishment in the form of updated guidelines.
"Corporal punishment experience makes it more challenging, and less likely to be challenging and aggressive in the future," the group says in its new guidelines to pediatricians.
"There is no benefit to spanking," said Dr. Robert Sege of Tufts Medical Center in Boston, who helped write the guidelines.
"We know that children grow and develop better with positive role modeling and by setting healthy limits. We can do better. "
Verbal abuse and humiliation are also counterproductive, the pediatrics group said.
"Parents, other caregivers, and adults interacting with children and adolescents should not use corporal punishment (including hitting and spanking), that causes shame or humiliation, "the group says in the updated guidelines.
"Within a few minutes, children are often back to their original behavior." It certainly does not teach children self-regulation, "Sege told NBC News.
"These techniques are as effective and efficient as they are, the goal is to teach the child to regulate itself, so that it will have the ability to control and manage its own behavior.
Americans still strongly believe in beating, spanking or paddling children, both at home and in school.
"According to a 2004 survey, the two-thirds of parents of young children reported," the pediatrics group said.
"These parents reported that by fifth grade, 80 percent of children had been physically punished, and 85 percent of teenagers reported exposure to physical punishment, with 51 percent having been hit with a belt or similar object."
And in 2013, Harris Interactive poll found that 70 percent of parents agreed with the statement that "good, hard spanking is sometimes necessary to discipline a child," which was down from 84 percent of parents in 1986.
But things are changing, Sege said.
"If you limit your surveys to people who have a child aged 5 years and younger in their homes, who are a new generation of parents, most of them do not like to spank their children and often do not spank their children," he said. "We think there's a general shift where parents are much less likely to be spanked than their parents were."
One of the parents studied in their parents' home. But they did not wait long. "Corporal punishment then occurred at a time of 30 seconds later, which may have been responsive or impulsively or emotionally rather than instrumentally and intentionally," said the pediatrics group.
It did little good.
"The effects of corporal punishment were transient: within 10 minutes, most children (73 percent) had resumed the same behavior for which they had been punished."
Not only does hitting kids do little good; it can worsen their long-term behavior.
"Children who experience increased physical activity, increased aggression in school, and increased risk of mental health and cognitive problems," Sege said in a statement.
That held even when parents were otherwise warm and loving.
Parents who hit their children often have serious problems of their own. "Parents who suffer from depression to use corporal punishment more frequently. In addition, family economic challenges, mental health problems, intimate partner violence and substance abuse are all associated with increased reliance on corporal punishment, "Sege said.
"One small report suggests that parents who themselves have a history of trauma are more likely to use corporal punishment than other parents."
So what can parents do instead?
"First, establish a positive, supporting and loving relationship with your child. Without this foundation, your child has no reason, other than fear, to demonstrate good behavior, "the AAP advises.
"Second, use positive reinforcement to increase the behavior of your child."
Time outs work, the group said. "Discipline older children by the age of removing privileges privileges, such as sports activities or playing with friends. If you have questions about disciplining your children, talk with your pediatrician, "it advises.
Pediatricians will almost always recommend discipline that does not include hitting children, or forcing them to eat spices, washing their mouths out with soap or other abusive punishments. Only 6 percent of the 787 US pediatricians surveyed in 2016 approved of spanking, and only 2.5 percent actually expected it to be good.
The American Psychological Association says positive reinforcement is more effective than spanking.
"Positive reinforcement for alternative behaviors is extremely effective," it says.
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