Corporal Punishment and Negative Social Consequences

A study was conducted by Maryland-based anti-spanking advocate John Benjamin Guthrow. He compared data from state, federal and local government agencies for the top 1 states who use corporal punishment most frequently in their schools. He found a correlation between corporal punishment in schools and a variety of negative social consequences.

Even though it is possible that corporal punishment is directly related to those children murdering someone when they get older this study does not determine that is true. There are other factors that could determine this correlation. For instance, it is the parents' and teachers' that decide if spanking should be allowed in school so it is possible that the high murder rate is because of adults' violent influence. Also those states that allowed spanking had high poverty and low education and health. Murder rates could be the result of poor environmental conditions at home rather than the school.

I hypothesis that negative social consequences is directly related home environment rather than corporal punishment in schools. In order to fully understand if spanking is related to negative social consequences the sample should include schools from all states rather than just the five states with the highest murder rate and the five states with the lowest murder rate. I would use longitudinal design to determine if spanking was directly related to negative social consequences. By using longitudinal design this study will eliminate bias by determining if there is a direct association rather than finding correlations in the data.


http://www.womensenews.org/story/health/010923/experts-say-harms-children

"Normal" Development

As we have been talking in class about the different theories of development and what is "normal", I can't but start to think about the different ways I have seen children. According to Scarr, every one of the children I have had contact with in many different settings have fit the notion of normal development i.e. they have learned to communicate, can interact socially, feed themselves etc. The young juveniles I see everyday that are incarcerated certainly have developed, evolutionary wise, in the normal sense. But what about the other aspects of development- developing a sense of morality for example. Piaget argues that between the ages of 4-7yrs, a child's sense of morality is black and white. My question is this: how can a child develop a sense of morality, that conforms at least minimally to social norms, if his/her parents don't instill it at an early age? If a parent does illegal/immoral behavior to feed an addiction (what ever that may be) how does a child develop a sense of what is right or wrong?

As a child matures into a young adult, does he or she eventually start to develop the sense of right or wrong or do we accept the prognosis of some that we have a segment of our society that will always be somewhat deviant in accepting the norms we all try to live by?

Daughters Exposed to DES

In the 1940s through the 1970s woman were given Diethylstilbestrol (DES), a synthetic non-steroidal estrogen to prevent against miscarriages. When DES was first prescribed, tests were run to determine if the drug was preventing miscarriages. According to clinical standards the results tested positive. It was later found that DES exposure in utero led to an increased rate of miscarriage and preterm birth. In 1971, the Food and Drug Administration released a warning about the use of DES.

The daughters who were exposed in utero to DES were believed to reach menopause at an earlier age. In 2006, Boston University also did a study to determine the effects DES has on the age in which women reach menopause. Questionnaires were sent by mail to 4,210 women exposed to DES while in the womb and1,829 women who were not exposed to DES. The questionnaire was followed up by a telephone interview for those who did not respond to the survey. The questions in this survey were about cancer, medical history, reproductive history, and the occurrence of menopause. A follow-up survey was conducted and sent to 6,551 women who were eligible

The results showed that the mean age of women reaching menopause who were exposed to DES had the mean age of 51.5. This is lower compared to unexposed women who had the mean age of 52.2 years old when they reached menopause. Exposed women in this survey also had higher levels of education, were less likely to have ever smoked, had fewer children, and had children at a later age at first birth. DES-exposed women were approximately 50% more likely to have reached natural menopause at each age as seen in figure 1.



http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/164/7/682.full

TO SPANK OR NOT TO SPANK?

I found the following article veryinteresting in the fact that it distinguishes the different types of spanking. The term used for spanking, that is not attractive and very harsh in wording is "corporal punishment". I feel that proponents of using alternatives to spanking use this terminology as a scare tactic and attempt to make parents feel bad about using physical discipline. Corporal punishment reminds me of something an officer gets if he goes a-wall or if an inmate in a prison system fights or goes against the system that is set up within the actual system. It seems to be an extreme terminology.

The following is from the wordnetweb, and is a definition of spanking:
Noun

S: (n) spanking (the act of slapping on the buttocks) "he gave the brat a good spanking"

This is how I view it as well. I, as a parent, have older children now, but did use spanking as a form of discipline in my home. I don't believe in using objects such as belts or switches, but to use my hand, with the child bent on my knee and deliver one quick smack on the bottom. It seems to me by having the child bending over and then talking to him while he/she is bent over waiting for the spanking, is a far better deterrent then the spanking itself. Timeouts worked on two of my three kids. The other one responded by having objects taken away from him for a time. I use to give the child that responded to objects being taken away a lot of time outs, and all it did was frustrate both of us. Spanking, for me needs to be done in extreme situations. So, I created a "quit time" for him. This gave him an opportunity to calm down and not feel like he was a bad kid. Time outs set him over the edge and I would give in so I did not have to hear the screaming and stomping. He constantly felt as if he was doing something wrong and acted out with time outs. He is 17 now, and when he gets frustrated, I recommend a quite time, to reflex on where he is at during a tough time. He still uses them.
All in all, moderate spanking is not harmful in my opinion. I guess one would have to decide where the line is with extremes of actual discipline verses child abuse.

http://www.sptimes.com/2008/02/06/Hillsborough/Parents_waver_over_wi.shtml

http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=spanking

Many Pregnant Women May Be Harming Fetuses

As we discussed in class there are several abnormalities that can be caused by teratogens. Smoking, drinking, consuming metals, and taking prescriptions are just some things that can be consumed by pregnant women that can harm the fetus. In this article pregnant women in southwestern Oregon participated in a nation study on harmful substances to fetuses. The study pointed out 94% of children exposed to drugs and alcohol in the womb will have mental health issues. 40% will need special education and 60% will end up in the criminal justice system. After the study was presented a group in Douglas County only 50% of them quit drinking while they were pregnant.

Studies have been conducted throughout the years proving that several factors can cause health problems, physical deformaties, and mental problems. I think it is crazy for a pregnant woman to subject her baby to things like smoking and drinking when it can cause problems for the rest of the baby's life.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39226119

Sex Education in Schools

There is a debate going on between the Helena Public Schools and parents over whether or not to introduce a new sex-ed program for all grades(k-12). In first grade, educators would teach children about homosexuality, and by fifth grade, kids would learn about the different types of intercourse. The new program would begin teaching kids in elementary school in hopes of raising awareness and lowering teen pregnancy numbers as well as STDs. Some parents and other opponents say that the new curriculum begins at too young of an age, that the language is too graphic for young children, and that by talking about sex, it will make kids want to start exploring sex earlier. Others say that Sex Education should be left out of school completely, and that it is up to parents to discuss the topics with their own chilren.

Personally, I think that beginning Sex Ed at a younger age is a good idea. I think teenagers take sex too lightly and don't really consider the consequences of their actions until they are faced with a difficult situation like a pregnancy or a disease. I think that educating kids about sex at a young age, using age-appropriate terms, could be extremely beneficial. I don't think that teaching kids about sex will push them into taking part in sexual activity any earlier. It will just help them to make informed decisions when they do decide they are ready to have sex.

Here are a couple articles written on this subject.
http://helenair.com/news/local/education/article_b7763efe-7395-11df-b7b4-001cc4c03286.html

http://www.krtv.com/news/helena-schools-draft-sex-ed-document-causing-controversy/

Children and technology

According to an article at Sciencedaily.com, children being exposed to new technology, such as video games, also have a new way to learn. According to the article "Patricia Greenfield (UCLA) looked at more than 50 studies of technology's effects on children. She found that media does limit some aspects of their mental skills, but also help improve them in other ways. " It also describes today's children as better multitaskers and better at visual reasoning skills. "However, the changes aren't all positive: while children can cope with complex information, it doesn't always aid learning. For example, one test found that children who watched a version of CNN Headline News with only the news announcer on screen remembered much more detail about the stories than those watching the standard version with mulitple on-screen graphics."

Technology, according to this study also appears to damage critical reasoning and attention span.


What this article states to me is that while video games can create different learning environments for children and technology can help children to learn, educators must continue to develop the best ways to help children and not just show movies or give games to play. Parents must also be aware that giving children the newest technology and letting them run loose may be inhibiting their children and their ability to learn in the future.

http://www.infopackets.com/news/technology/it/2009/20090130_technology_has_mixed_effects_on_child_development_research_suggest.htm