Etymology

English and several other languages have a specific, common verb for "spanking", that distinguishes it from corporal punishment applied on the buttocks. Thus in Latin the only word derived from "culus" (buttocks) was "culare" meaning "to spank", similar to the Italian "sculacciare"; in Spanish "azotes" or "nalgadas", from "nalga" (butt); in French, the verb is "fesser", also from "fesses" (buttocks).

In homes and schools

Spankings are most commonly administered to children by parents, though in some countries it is also done in schools. Historically, boys have tended to be more frequently spanked on average than girls.

School corporal punishment is banned in most of the western world, including every country in Europe, Japan, South Africa and New Zealand. There is no consensus on how much paddling occurs in U.S. schools. Some estimatesWho: date=August 2008 place the number of paddlings at approximately 350,000 a year, while the National Association of School Psychologists places the number at 1.5 million cases a year. The anti-C.P. campaign Center for Effective Discipline claims that the number of students struck in 2006 in U.S. public schools was 223,190. In the United States, black students are more likely to be hit than white students, and male students more likely than female students, for the same infractions.

Research

Some studies have suggested that children who receive corporal punishment are more likely to be angry as adults, use spanking as a form of discipline, approve of striking a spouse and experience marital discord. Older children who receive corporal punishment may resort to more physical aggression, substance abuse, crime and violence, according to certain studies. However, what is defined for the purposes of such studies as "corporal punishment" may include general brutality as well as ordinary moderate spanking.

According to a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (online on Aug 19, 2008), mothers who reported spanking their children are nearly three times more likely (6% vs 2%) to also report using forms of punishment considered abusive to the researchers "such as beating, burning, kicking, hitting with an object somewhere other than the buttocks, or shaking a child less than 2 years old" than mothers who did not report spanking, and increases in the frequency of spanking are associated with increased odds of abuse.

Alternatives to spanking

main: Non-violent child discipline Opponents of spanking suggest numerous methods of non-violent child discipline which they consider to be at least as effective as spanking, while lacking the negative side-effects they attribute to spanking.