Spanking and Child Development: We Know Enough Now To Stop Hitting Our Children

Child Dev Perspect. 2013 Sep 1;7(3):133-137. doi: 10.1111/cdep.12038.

Abstract

Spanking remains a common, if controversial, childrearing practice in the United States. In this article, I pair mounting research indicating that spanking is both ineffective and harmful with professional and human rights opinions disavowing the practice. I conclude that spanking is a form of violence against children that should no longer be a part of American childrearing.