Guest Blog – Spanked Children Hitting Back

JUST two smacks to your three-year-old can lead to a violent primary schooler, new international research has shown.

Infrequent use of spanking defined as one or two times a month doubled the risk of aggression in five-year-olds.

It is the first time research has shown increased aggression could not be explained away by other factors, such as high stress in the mother or maltreatment or neglect of the child.

Child psychologist Bob Montgomery has called for a public health campaign to cut out smacking.

Dr Montgomery believes this would lead to a reduction in schoolyard and street violence.

Prevention starts in the home and skills learnt from parenting programs such as the Triple P parenting course could alter lives, Dr Montgomery said.

Guest Blog – Prevent Child Abuse Texas Responds

Wendell Teltow, Executive Director of PCAT, received our December 17 message regarding their upcoming conference and has responded to criticism made therein by PTAVE board member Tom Johnson. In the interest of fairness, and with Mr. Teltow’s authorization, we now share with you below the email exchange that followed (including links to the referenced attachments).

Guest Blog – Corporal Punishment Totally Unnecessary

All children or born pure, it’s how we treat them or behave with them that will alter their attitude towards us. For 2011, I appeal to all errant ‘teachers’ to mend their ways and for all teachers to embrace the anti-corporal punishment law, restore the dignity, pride and respect to the profession and students alike, and teach by example, writes Md Musa Azad

Is Sparing The Rod Spoiling The Child?

Chastening—a.k.a.—hitting/switching/whipping/corporal punishment, can weaken the survivor’s immune system according to Dr. Frank Putnam of the National Institute of Mental Health and Dr. Martin Teicher of Harvard Medical School. Putnam conducted studies of 170 girls, 6-15 years old—half had been subjected to ‘corporal punishment,’ half had not—for seven years.