Human Development and Lifespan

NUEL 250 (spring, 2021)

DISCUSSION BOARD ACTIVITY ON CHILDHOOD DISCIPLINE (To be carried out between February 23 and February 28)

The Assignment:

This discussion assignment centers on the recommendation by the American Academy of Pediatrics as well as some other organizations against spanking. The recommendation is cited in Chapter 8 of our textbook as well as in the lecture on socialization in the context of the family (# 7 on the Module III To- Do List). Some have referred to this recommendation as an “injunction”, although that word may be a bit strong. The aim of the discussion is to stimulate reflection on your beliefs about disciplining children, a significant issue for health professionals.

Please discuss the questions below in your small discussion group. We are interested in your opinions, but also be sure to incorporate in your comments material from the textbook, lectures, class members’ response to the survey (summarized at the end of this document) and possibly other sources; it is best to say where you found this material, and if you include material from “other sources” you definitely should cite the source. Try to come up with a group response to the questions, but if you can’t come to a consensus view, you may post a “minority report”.

The group members together may decide how they want to proceed. For example, they might “divvy up” drafting responsibilities (e.g. by question), as long as the draft is posted early enough for each group member to have a chance to read and comment on the draft before a final answer is posted. Or, you might agree that each group member will take his or her “best shot” at each of the three questions, with the last person to post taking responsibility for writing a summary and posting it. I encourage the group to agree up front on a plan and set some deadlines. In any case, there should be some discussion of the issues on your group’s discussion board and all members should participate in that. To receive full credit for the discussion (10 points), each group member should make at least 2 posts:

1) An initial post in response to one or more of the questions and

2) At least one subsequent post. That may be a response to another member’s initial post (for example one in which you add a point to it or correct some aspect of it) or a post in which you either express your approval of or amend the group summary that another member has posted.

Questions to be discussed:

1. Is an “injunction” (“ban”, or “prohibition”) warranted? In deciding upon a response, think about questions such as “What was the American Academy of Pediatrics’ rationale for the recommendation against spanking?” and “How credible is the rationale-- are there any “threats” to the basis for the AAP’s recommendation”?

2. Do you anticipate that you as health care professionals will tell parents that spanking is not an appropriate discipline technique? Why or why not?

3. Do you think a move to legally prohibit corporal punishment has a good chance of success?

What factors might influence whether such a “ban” would succeed or fail? Consider factors in various levels of the ecology described in Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Model of Development that might influence favorably or unfavorably the success of a ban

Feedback on class members’ response to the survey begins on the next page >>>

1

This semester’s student responses to the extra credit survey, “My Childhood Discipline” are summarized on the table below. The response rate this semester was 79.8% (71 of the 89 students enrolled in the course submitted a response to the survey). This response rate is high compared to the response rate often obtained when people are solicited to respond to a survey (Isn’t it amazing what a reward of an extra credit point will do!). Just to give a little broader picture, though, the table includes not only this semester’s results, but the results of the survey from fall and spring semesters of academic year 2019-2020. Following the table is a brief summary of comments made on the “essay portion” of the survey. Please Note: The survey is NOT meant to be a scientific study of pre-nursing students’ experiences and attitudes related to discipline! The intent is simply to stimulate your thinking about some issues related to disciplining children and, in particular, about some of the personal developmental experiences that members of the helping professions bring to their work.

Responses of Students enrolled in NUEL 250 for the past 3 semesters to Survey about Their Childhood Disciplinary Experiences

Survey Question	2020 (Spring) n= 48	2020 (Fall) n=71	2021 (Spring) n=72
When I was 3-6 years old, my parents used spanking as a form of discipline	52%	67%	63%
When I was 3-6 years old, my parents used a form of physical punishment that was NOT spanking as defined….	27%	44%	25%
When I was 11-13 years old, my parents used spanking as a form of discipline	25%	26%	35%
When I was 11-13, my parents used a form of physical discipline that does NOT fit the definition of spanking provided	31%	35%	25%
When you were about 3 to 6 years old, did you feel your parents “had a right” to spank you/use other physical discipline? (% yes)	52%	42%	38%
When you were 11-13, did you feel your parents “had a right” to spank you or to use other forms of physical discipline? (% yes)	25%	28%	15%
I expect to spank my child or children when I have them (or do spank them now if I have children)	23%	21%	17%

Notes: - Percentages denote agreement with the statement.

- Spanking was defined for purposes of the survey as “Hitting a child with an open hand on the buttocks or extremities with the intent to discipline without leaving a bruise or causing other physical injury.”

Summary of Respondents’ Comments

As in previous semesters, most respondents (all but 4 of the 72 students who submitted the survey) included at least a brief comment in the area for comments. There was considerable variation among students with respect both to the personal experiences that they shared and to their opinion about whether physical punishment is an appropriate form of discipline. There were many very thoughtful comments, but due to space limitations, I will include just a few of them here. If your comment is not included, please don’t assume that I did not find it thoughtful!

Considering that close to two- thirds of the class members who responded had been spanked during their childhood, it isn’t surprising that there were more posts that described personal consequences of parental spanking than posts that commented on the consequences for them as a result of their parents not spanking them.

Here are a few comments made by students who thought that parental spanking had influenced them favorably. Notice, however, that even some of these students “qualified” their statement, for example by adding that they don’t plan to spank their children.

“I believe that being spanked was a good way for me to grow up and learn from my mistakes.  It also helped me grow closer to my siblings because we all shared the same punishment for something one of us or all of us had done.  It gave me a sense of responsibility to my actions and other things related.  In the future, I will have to give childhood discipline to my child, but only when they are old enough to think about rights and wrongs, but they choose not to follow it, basically 10-13 years old.  When they are younger, I feel like just telling them and giving them a small punishment, like having to eat their greens or not letting them play games for the rest of the day is nice and simple”.

“I think childhood discipline was very important during my childhood and I use it with my daughter as well. My parents would spank me as a child when I did not listen, and now looking back I understand that it was efficient. With my daughter, for most times I give her warnings before spanking. I know that many parents see spanking as bad, but in many cases sometimes it is needed to set some type of control”.

“Spanking" a child is very beneficial for the child’s discipline. Theres a difference when abusing a child and disciplining one and I think thats something that a lot of people don’t understand. From my own experience, obviously I didn't enjoy getting a spanking but I do remember that when I did get one, whatever I did to cause it, I never did it again. I was brought up in a strict household with foreign parents. Growing up, even though I loathed spankings and was upset with my parents for giving them, I learned from my mistakes and never repeated the actions again that I did to cause them.”

I think my parents giving me a physical form of discipline helped me become more obedient and respectful to rules. Do I think it is okay? Yes and no, however, it really depends on the extremities of it. I personally wouldn't spank my future children and would rather find a different way of disciplining them.

The comments made by other students about their disciplinary experiences when they were children were more clearly “negative”. However, although I haven’t done a “formal” analysis, it strikes me that few of these comments concerned spanking. They tended to focus more on the negative self-perception that parents induced by hostile comments. For example, one wrote, “I always have felt that physical discipline is not a good option. However, throughout my childhood, it was more common for my parents to discipline by putting me down and making me feel horrible about myself and yelling. I feel when disciplining a child, constructive criticism along with being calm and willing to listen is the best way. Being physical is never an appropriate from of discipline.”

Another student wrote “… my parents used both spanking by the definition and the other physical discipline; it depended how mad they were. I thinking spanking by the definition should be the last resort to situations when disciplining a child because I remember my parents didn't explained what I did was bad, I just knew not to do it again so I won't get hit again. When I was young I do remember feeling scared of my parents and I didn't understand why they were okay with making me cry or hurting me….”

And here are a few more comments about the “negative” results of physical punishment: “Spanking or using physical punishment is wrong…As a child who grew up in a household where any object was used as a form of discipline, I personally would never wish nor do that to my own children.” And another wrote, “I believe that spanking as discipline only made me fear my parents. As a result, this is why our relationship might be a bit strained. Also, I do not think spanking helped my brother, since he is still a trouble maker.” And still another wrote, “I believe that even though I was spanked, it did not help me with my behavior as a kid. It promoted a kind of violence in me in a young age, and I learned to inflict it to others, like my siblings and it would get me into even more trouble.” Therefore, spanking is not very effective in my opinion.”

As I said in the lecture, the context in which parents use spanking matters. I have administered the survey every semester for several years and many students have commented to the effect that spanking was common and acceptable among friends in their ethnic group (e.g. “Asian”, Filipino, or “Mexican”) and that they were surprised when they learned that some of their schoolmates were not spanked. For example, one student wrote, “Growing up in a Hispanic household what i went through for discipline was not uncommon. The form of discipline is almost a part of the Hispanic culture and is normalized that way.”

However, it is important that we take care not to simply assume that an individual’s experience will be consistent with the stereotype; one student commented, “As a young child, my siblings and I were never disciplined physically. We were always lectured and told what was right or wrong. As a Latina, you would think it was culturally appropriate for us to be physically disciplined, but my parents never believed that. I've had other friends who are Latinos and for them it was normal, which shows how it depends of the household and their own beliefs. I think that it is wrong, but others think differently”

Next, Bon, talk about individual differences within families use the quote below (and hopefully one or two others) and the discussion from fall

“Although I was not spanked as a child or growing up, my brother was. My dad usually would spank him in order to discipline him due to him usually doing something bad to me. As I saw that growing up, my mindset when I have children will be the same as my parents did for me. Examples include talking about why what I did was bad, sending me to my room to think, or saying simply saying "no" during the problematic event.”

Variations within families with respect to the use of spanking as a form of discipline was a feature in the posts of several students. For example,

-“I was not spanked, but my brother was”.

-“Growing up, I was mostly spanked by my mother as a form of discipline. This was more prevalent in my brother who was more outgoing than me…”

-“Although I was not spanked as a child or growing up, my brother was. My dad usually would spank him in order to discipline him due to him usually doing something bad to me. As I saw that growing up, my mindset when I have children will be the same as my parents did for me. Examples include talking about why what I did was bad, sending me to my room to think, or saying simply saying "no" during the problematic event.”

I suggest that perhaps some of the within-family variation described in these comments was due to the effect of differing temperaments among siblings and how that influenced their behavior and subsequently the disciplinary techniques that parents used. That explanation would, of course, be very consistent with a prominent “theme” in this course, namely that not only does the environment influence the individual, but the individual influences the environment that he or she experiences; in other words, that social interactions are “reciprocal”

Finally, a few students commented upon whether they plan to use spanking as a form of discipline when they have children. The majority of students’ expectations in this respect were pretty consistent with the way that they thought their parents’ discipline methods had influenced them. Several commented that they believe that spanking is OK as long as there are limits and that there is no physical harm done. However, a few students who were spanked were adamant in their determination not to spank their children. There were many thoughtful comments. I wish I could include them all, but I hope that the few that I have included will give you an idea of the quality and content of the responses.