Parents who physically punish their children cause long-term psychological damage. What a lot of people don’t know is that physical abuse starts on a small scale.
Stuttgart – How far can parents go in education when it comes to punishment? Surveys reveal a frightening picture of opinion on this question. According to this, every second person in Germany is of the opinion that a slap on the bottom has never harmed a child. One in six even considers it appropriate to slap a child. This is the result of a representative study by the Clinic for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in Ulm, Unicef Germany and the German Child Protection Association (2020). The mood is especially frightening when you listen to the warnings of paediatricians and psychologists. They say: Even physical punishment in a “milder” form can severely damage the psyche of children.
According to studies submitted to the portal bright side are present, physical abuse in childhood can have serious consequences for those affected in adulthood. It leads to anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, emotional instability, and various behavioral disorders. As the report shows, physical abuse can take many forms. In addition to the obvious form of punishment – such as hitting the children with an object such as a stick or belt – there is another form that is often played down. This includes shaking children, pulling their hair, boxing their ears, or forcing them into an uncomfortable position.
Forms of physical abuse – including unintentionally feeding the children
Forced acts also include parents washing their mouths out, washing their hands, or force-feeding them something the child does not want to eat. While many adults probably don’t think of physical abuse directly when they think of these acts, experts say this form of punishment already falls into that category. Also verbal violence can harm children in the long term. This includes threats, humiliation, belittlement, and scaring of the child, as well as yelling. Even if it leaves no external traces, verbal violence is no less harmful to children. Children who experience verbal abuse often suffer from depression as adults.
If parents cannot control their anger, it can have serious emotional consequences for the child – even if the parents only use “light” forms of physical violence. One study found that abused children tended to be more aggressive later in life and scored lower on overall mental health ratings.
Violence in education: Psychologists point to alternatives
While psychologists advise against the above methods of disciplining, there are some that they find appropriate. Expert Tip: Take the child away from the situation for a few minutes and let them calm down so they can think about it. Then you can patiently talk about the situation and explain what was bad. Instead of using violence, deprive the child of a privilege. For example, don’t let them watch cartoons or eat sweets for a day. These methods are effective because they have a long-term effect on the child’s behavior. A very brief punishment is enough to make an impact, experts say.
As Unicef Germany explains, the proportion of people who use violence or see it as appropriate has fallen overall. In a survey from 2005, around three quarters of those questioned stated that they had used a “slap on the bottom” as an upbringing method, in 2016 only 44.7 percent and in 2020 only 42.7 percent did so penalty for appropriate.
Physical punishment: Unfortunately, this is still widespread among a part of the German population
The number of people who consider a slap to be appropriate has declined in a similar way to the approval of the “slap on the butt”. In 2005, 53.7 percent of those surveyed stated that they had already used a “light slap” as a parenting method, in 2016 only 17 percent and in 2020 17.6 percent thought this was appropriate. In the years from 2016 to 2020 the numbers stagnated. Acceptance of corporal punishment has reached a plateau. Unfortunately, lighter corporal punishment in particular remains more widespread among a frightening part of the German population.
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