Spanking Lowers IQ – A new study suggests that spanking lowers IQ in children, but average IQ rates are increasing in the US possibly due to a decrease in parents who use corporal punishment.
If spanking lowers IQ in kids, the frequency of the use of corporal punishment also has an effect according to Murray Straus, a professor of sociology and co-director of the Family Research Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire.
In a survey of 17,000 college students in 32 countries, Straus found that the higher the use of spanking as a form of punishment, the lower the national average IQ.
In the United States, Straus reviewed IQ scores from 806 children from 2 to 4 years old and 704 kids aged 5 to 9.
When the same kids IQs were tested again after four years, children in the age 2-4 group who were not spanked scored, on average, five points higher, than children who had been spanked. In the group of children age 5-9, spanking resulted in a loss of 2.8 points on average.
Child psychologist, Dr. Rahil Briggs, said she believes that “discipline should be an opportunity to teach your child something.
If you spank, you teach your child that hitting is the way to deal with a situation. But if you use other methods of discipline, you can begin teaching your child higher-level cognitive skills, self-control, cause-and-effect and logical thinking.”
What are your thoughts on whether you think Spanking Lowers IQ?
Tags: corporal punishment, News, parenting skills, spanking decreased iq, spanking lowers iq
September 30th, 2009 at 12:08 am
I’ll continue spanking my stupid kids
October 10th, 2009 at 11:48 am
When I was a child, I was spanked and I have a rather high IQ. So I do not find this to be true. Honestly, I will probly spank my child when she gets older. Spanking is a very effective form of punishment.
October 17th, 2009 at 8:54 am
cool
October 22nd, 2009 at 4:29 pm
Maybe the scenerio is backwards, maybe the children with the higher IQ’s already knew what to do not to get a spanking!
October 27th, 2009 at 1:16 am
There are way too many variables not being referenced. A child who hits another child to use a toy gets spanked. A child who simply grabs the toy gets a time-out and forfeits the right to play with that toy for a period of time.
Simpy not spanking a child makes that child no smarter, and spanking a child for the appropriate does not inhibit a child’s intelligence … Things that are far more likely to influence a child’s IQ is the economics of their environment, their diet, and the IQ of their parents. IQ stands for Intelligence Quotient, the potential of intelligence, Not the actual intelligence level.