Time out better than spanking for naughty kids: experts

By Patricia Reaney

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - Time out, extra chores and taking away privileges are more useful forms of disciplining naughty children than spanking or hitting, according to a study on Wednesday.

An estimated 94 percent of parents use some form of corporal punishment to teach their toddlers right from wrong, according to research studies. But psychologists say it could lead to later emotional and behavioral problems.

Even children who were only smacked occasionally are more likely to show signs of depression or lower self-esteem.

"The key is consistency. Using something like corporal punishment that seems severe at best doesn't help and can put a child at risk for problems," said Dr Paul Frick, of the University of New Orleans in Louisiana.

"It is better to use other types of discipline and focus on the consistency," he added.

The use of physical punishment to discipline children has long been controversial. In countries such as Austria, Finland, Germany and Sweden it is illegal to use corporal punishment at home or in schools.

Frick and his team, who studied the impact of corporal punishment on 98 children, said they couldn't find any positive effects. Some children learned more from the hitting aspect than what the parent was trying to teach them.

"The key is to have a lot of different forms of punishment depending on the age of the child," said Frick, who reported his findings in the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology.

He recommended time out for younger children and taking away television and electronic toys for older youngsters. Giving extra chores can also get the message across.

Other disciplinary measures are at least as effective as corporal punishment and have less harmful potential consequences.

The researchers screened children whom they thought were at risk of later conduct problems and an equal number of other children who acted as a control group, to study what disciplinary measures would be most helpful.

They questioned the parents and the children about positive and negative parenting behavior including the use of corporal punishment.

"We got it from both perspectives," said Frick.

He added that children on the receiving end of a slap can learn that when they are upset and angry they hit, rather than understanding their behavior was wrong and that they need to do better.