Spanking and the Impact on Brain Development

Spanking, or corporal punishment, has long been associated with increased rates of depression, substance use, aggression towards others, oppositionality towards authority figures, and an increased tendency to identifying benign actions by others as hostile or malicious.

Recent studies have found that in addition to the well-established impact spanking has upon children's emotional and psychological well-being, it may also be correlated with decreased brain development,  according to a recent article on CNN. Specifically, studies have found that children who have been spanked once or more a month for three years have decreased gray matter in their prefrontal cortext, which impacts cognitive functioning and impulse-control. "The more you physically punish your kids for their lack of self-control, the less they have," according to article author Sarah Kovac. 

To learn more read Spanking the gray matter out of our kids on CNN.