Long story short: The science is solid enough that at this point it is completely reasonable to state unequivocally that spanking is a bad idea. It does not produce good outcomes, it does produce bad outcomes. It produces antisocial behavior and slows development. It is bad. It should stop. We are out of good excuses for believing otherwise.
So it’s weird. I’m so culturally immersed in and normalized to the concept of spanking that it doesn’t strike me as strange, or even as a particular warning sign of abusive parents in and of itself.
And yet, when I step back to really ponder what it consists of, “using violence on this small person in our power will work out well for them” is like.
A WILD concept.
Why does that seem normal to so many of us? How does it not trigger massive cognitive dissonance?
The Spanking Debate is Over – Quillette
Published
Land of Sweetness and Light 