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In a new policy statement, published in the journal Pediatrics on Monday, the pediatricians' group recommends that adults caring for children use "healthy forms of discipline" β such as positive reinforcement of appropriate behaviors, setting limits and setting expectations β and not use spanking, hitting, slapping, threatening, insulting, humiliating or shaming. The policy statement updates guidance published in that recommended "parents be encouraged and assisted in developing methods other than spanking in response to undesired behavior.
The policy statement describes corporal punishment as "noninjurious, open-handed hitting with the intention of modifying child behavior" and indicates that spanking is considered a form of such physical punishment.
The statement goes on to describe how several studies have found associations between spanking and aggressive child behavior, depressive symptoms in adolescence and less gray matter in children's brains , among other outcomes.
The statement encourages pediatricians to counsel the parents of their patients when they may want guidance about the use of spanking. Sege said there are other forms of discipline that parents can employ, no matter their child's age. For instance, for children younger than 1 who might be misbehaving, "the best thing to do is just pick them up and move them somewhere else, distract them, change the subject β and that's usually all they need and they can handle it," he said.
