Chapman's case is pending and the story sparked a huge debate on our Facebook page and that got us to thinking, is spanking harmful or is it helpful. This age old behavioral-correction technique is controversial none-the-less and findings from a study released this month are now fueling more fire to the "discipline debate.
Support for spanking has fallen over the past few decades, but there are parents who still believe corporal punishment works. UNICEF defines corporal punishment as the use of physical force causing pain, but not wounds, as a means of discipline. The organization also found that 80 percent of parents still spank their children. The U. Parenting Across Cultures found in a survey that nearly four in 10 girls from seven to years-old were spanked by their parents.
Boys fell just below at 36 percent. Gershoff's latest findings released this June in the Journal of Family Psychology suggests that spanking your kids is more harmful than previously thought. The study on , children found the more children are spanked, the more likely they are to defy their parents and to experience increased anti-social behavior, aggression, mental health problems and cognitive difficulties. After all, it's a parent's choice as to how they decide to discipline their children, but is the legal?
WAFF 48's Legal Expert and defense attorney Mark McDaniel said the laws concerning child abuse are up to interpretation but it's a moving line between correction and abuse.
Now words certainly are objective and you look at the child and you look at what happened for a prosecutor to determine whether or not they are going to prosecute the case," said McDaniel. Madison County Assistant District Attorney Gabriel Helix investigates and prosecutes offenders who have gone too far with spanking.
