What are the dangers of spanking children?

Many adults like to use violence to solve problems when children make mistakes, and most adults prefer to solve problems by spanking their children. Generally speaking, this kind of behavior is not advisable. Spanking a child may seem like a means of education, but this behavior is very harmful to the child and may also affect the child's psychological development. So what are the dangers of spanking children?

1. Spanking too hard may harm the child

When parents spank their children, they may use too much force, which may cause local hematoma in the child's gluteal muscles, poor blood circulation, and necrotizing inflammation; it may also bruise the child's sciatic nerve, causing numbness of the lower limbs or even paralysis. The kidneys are very close to the child's buttocks. If parents spank their child at a higher position, it may damage the child's kidneys. The human brain tissue is located in the cranial cavity, and the skull is connected to the human spine through the atlanto-occipital joint. If parents hit their children too hard, the child's buttocks will be suddenly hit and the shock can be transmitted through the spine to the atlanto-occipital joint, possibly causing skull deformation and brain damage. If a boy is beaten while lying on a bed or other object, his testicles may be injured by the edge of the bed or the object, causing testicular hematoma or damage.

2. Frequent spanking may affect children's IQ

Frequent spanking or other corporal punishment of children may affect the development of their IQ. In 2010, American correctional and domestic violence experts published the results of a four-year study involving 1,510 children. The study found that in a group of 806 children aged 2-4, the average IQ of children who did not suffer corporal punishment was 5 points higher than those who were often beaten; while in another group of 704 children aged 5-9, the gap was 2.8 points.

3. Frequent spanking may affect children’s mental health

If parents spank their children frequently, it may cause the children to develop a rebellious mentality, or even imitate the parents' behavior and use violence to solve problems; or it may cause the children to become cowardly and have low self-esteem. Spanking, yelling at, or shaking a child can easily make the child hostile toward others. When the child grows up, he or she may be more likely to become violent toward his or her parents, siblings, friends, and future spouse. Moreover, corporal punishment such as spanking will hurt children's self-esteem, destroy the close relationship between children and parents, cause disharmony in the parent-child relationship, and even create a permanent gap between oneself and the child.