Spare the Rod...Please

Can we talk about something sad? Not sad so much as vile and disgusting. Call it whatever adjective you will, but I have seen 4 cases of child abuse in the hospital in the past 3 weeks. These range from a broken leg in a toddler caused by 'falling off the bed' to a 3 month old beaten to within an inch of his life. When I see these children, I can't fathom what they did to incur the wrath of an adult punching, slapping, and shaking them before they even have the means to run away. It makes me sick and, i'll admit, I do pass judgment on the alleged perpetrators before they have been 'proven guilty' by a court of law. I'm human. And I have dedicated my career to ensuring the health and wellbeing of those in our society who do not have the means to advocate for themselves.

So I thought it timely when I ran across an article about spanking and domestic abuse. A study found that children who were at the highest odds of being spanked were those whose parents were aggressive towards each other. This aggression took the form of slapping, kicking and emotional abuse such as not letting the partner see his/her family. The article suggests that spanking is part of an overall 'environment of violence' in US families today. Essentially, child abuse like i've seen over the past weeks is likely a continuum of abuse stemming from the parents, who likely suffered abuse as children, who were abused at the hand of their parents, and so forth. Spanking is an act that I don't believe children can separate in their minds as discipline vs. physical oppression of another person for purpose of control. Hence, the link to abuse. The AAP has this to say about spanking:

Corporal punishment is of limited effectiveness and has potentially deleterious side effects. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents be encouraged and assisted in the development of methods other than spanking for managing undesired behavior.

I wish that I could build a dam to block the river, but instead i'm throwing life preservers to those who are drowning in the rapids.