Is Corporal Punishment the Answer for Disobedient Children?... Research Says Otherwise

UCL Researchers Analyze 20,000 Children in the UK
One in Five Reports "Experience of Physical Punishment Before Age 10"
Physical Punishment at Ages 3, 5, and 7 Also Impacts Academic Performance

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Overseas research has found that physical punishment inflicted on children does not help improve behavior and, in fact, has a negative impact on development and well-being, such as increasing aggression in the long term.

On June 11 (local time), the UK’s Daily Mail reported, citing a University College London (UCL) research team’s report, that physical punishment is harmful to children's development.

The researchers analyzed data from about 20,000 children born in the UK between 2000 and 2002. To assess academic achievement, they checked the grades of 7,559 students who took the GCSE (the UK's secondary school graduation exam), and determined whether children had experienced physical punishment based on survey results submitted by each family.

The analysis found that one in five children had experienced physical punishment before the age of 10. It was also found that children who had experienced punishment in childhood had negative effects on their academic achievement.

Specifically, children who experienced physical punishment at ages 3, 5, and 7 were 5.7% more likely to receive lower grades than those who did not.

Additionally, children who experienced punishment at all of those ages were 40% more likely to bully or behave aggressively toward others at age 14, and the proportion exhibiting aggressive behavior increased by 26% at age 17. Children who had been punished were also 41% more likely to bully their siblings.

Joanna Barrett, Deputy Director of the child protection organization NSPCC, stated, "This study shows that not only does physical punishment fail to improve children's behavior, but it actually leads to negative outcomes in later life." She added, "Relevant laws need to be revised in England and Northern Ireland as well, so that children can be protected from assault."

Currently in the UK, physical punishment of children is banned in Scotland and Wales, but the relevant laws have not yet been amended in England and Northern Ireland.

However, the researchers explained that this study alone cannot definitively establish a direct causal relationship between physical punishment, academic performance, and risky adolescent behavior. The researchers added, "We cannot rule out the possibility that factors other than punishment during the study period may have affected their lives."

Meanwhile, South Korea became the 62nd country to ban corporal punishment of children when it removed the disciplinary rights provision from Article 915 of the Civil Act in January 2021. Currently, around 70 countries have legally banned corporal punishment of children.

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