NFL running back Adrian Peterson is accused of disciplining his 4-year-old child by hitting him with a switch (a thin tree branch), which left open wounds. The public outcry has been loud. But I’ve also seen interviews where the subjects discussed how “within certain cultures”, punishing kids by hitting them with objects (like a switch, belt, paddle, etc.) is simply “how things are done”. In today’s day and age? I needed to learn more…
We recently polled 1,506 U.S. adults and the first figure that jumped out at me is that over two-thirds (68%) of us have parents or guardians who used some form of physical discipline on us when we were children. Most (59%) recall being spanked – which was the most prevalent discipline technique parents used at the time – but a full one-third (33%) were, in fact, hit with an object (belt, paddle, etc.) as punishment. Other common forms of discipline used when we were kids were groundings (55%), yelling (47%), having something like a toy/game taken away (32%), and time-outs (29%).
We also asked Americans what they feel are appropriate forms of discipline to use on children today. Almost three-quarters (73%) feel groundings are appropriate, followed by time-outs (68%) and taking away a toy/game (61%). Just under half (45%) feel physical discipline is appropriate today, with the majority (41%) referring to spankings. Only 11% believe that physically disciplining a child with an object is appropriate in this day and age. And, interestingly, only 18% find yelling to be appropriate.
The majority (58%) of American adults who were physically disciplined as a child feel that physical discipline is still appropriate to use on children today. This is in stark contrast to the opinions of adults who were not physically disciplined as kids – only 16% of this group feel that physically disciplining children today is appropriate. On a similar note, we had mentioned above that 11% of adults believe that physical discipline with an object (belt, paddle, etc.) is appropriate…well, among those who were disciplined with a belt, paddle, etc. when they were a child, a full 25% feel it’s an appropriate method to use with kids today. So clearly there’s a notable link between our own discipline experiences as children and what we feel is appropriate today.
Here are the interesting cultural and demographic differences we found, when it comes to feelings of appropriateness regarding physical discipline techniques for children today:
- Physical discipline, in general, is considered more appropriate in the South (51%) and Midwest (47%), than in the East (39%) and West (38%). When it comes to any kind of non-spanking physical discipline, Americans in the South (17%) find these techniques more appropriate than the other regions of the U.S. (12% of the Midwest & West, 10% of the East).
- More Black (45%) and White (43%) Americans find spanking to be an appropriate form of discipline, compared to Hispanics (35%). But Black Americans (18%) are more likely than Hispanic (12%) and White Americans (9%) to feel that physical discipline with an object like a belt or paddle is appropriate.
- Adults 50-64 years of age (50%) are the age group most likely to deem physical discipline as an appropriate form of punishment, especially compared to 18-39 year olds (42%).
- Males are more likely than females to feel that physical discipline is appropriate for children (47% vs. 42%, respectively). Males are also twice as likely as females to feel it is ok to discipline children with an object like a belt or paddle (14% vs. 7%).
Do you feel that since you were physically disciplined as a kid and you turned out ok, it “worked” and therefore is a viable option to use with children today? At what point do you personally feel that physical discipline “crosses the line” and becomes child abuse?
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