**Spanking is both physically and psychologically damaging to children and I would absolutely class it as child abuse.** • Child abuse is defined by the Metropolitan Police, as occurring [“when anyone under the age of 18 is either being harmed or not properly looked after”](https://www.met.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/caa/child-abuse/what-is-child-abuse/); this is separated into four types of abuse - _physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect_. In my opinion, ‘spanking’ or any kind of hitting, counts as child abuse, and should be treated as such. • Spanking has long been excused as a form of child discipline, which seeks to teach a child not to repeat an incorrect behaviour via a physical punishment. It is more common in some cultures than others. For example, in the USA the practice of spanking is used and accepted a lot more than somewhere like New Zealand, where it has been outlawed. A shocking [81% of Americans](https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2017/12/the-fourth-r/547583/) think spanking is an appropriate form of punishment! • It has been proved that [being spanked as a child can have extremely negative repercussions](https://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/04/spanking), including increased aggression, antisocial behaviour, physical injuries, and mental health problems. I don’t think there are _ever_ any excuses for spanking a child or inflicting any kind of physical or emotional pain. It’s wrong and in my opinion, demonstrates _bad_ parenting. • Further to this, spanking has been shown to negatively impact someone’s ability to form healthy relationships later in life. This is largely to do with the fact that one of the few memories people have from their childhood, is times they were hit. Children who experience violence at home, are more likely to end up being violent themselves, especially in relationships. This is explained by the fact that children observe their parents resorting to violence, and consequently end up using it later in life as a coping mechanism. • A [study published in 2017, asked over 8,000 adults aged 19 to 97](https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/national/spanking-can-lead-to-relationship-violence-study-says) about their experiences with spanking as children, and found that those who _were spanked_, were more likely to drink heavily, use drugs and attempt suicide. This demonstrated a correlation between being a victim of abuse and later suffering detrimental consequences. • Using the definition cited above, it is pretty evident that spanking is child abuse. Hitting a defenceless child is not punishment, it’s abuse and to call it anything else is, in my opinion, to be complicit. A child growing up thinking that it is ok to use violence as a form of punishment, can only be a bad thing for society.

**It depends on how hard-hitting the spanking is** • Spanking is a form of corporal punishment used by some parents as a method of discipline for antisocial behaviour. Some reason that by hurting a disobedient child as punishment, the child will associate misbehaviour with pain, and avoid the actions that led to it in future. • Many argue that spanking is not abusive when used for a specific purpose and [“with the intention of causing a child to experience pain, but not injury”](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272409466_What_Is_the_Link_Between_Corporal_Punishment_and_Child_Physical_Abuse). Research has shown that mild and irregular spanking can improve a child’s behaviour and compliance to other kinds of discipline. • Spanking may not always be considered abuse itself, but studies have shown that parents who engage in corporal punishment as a form of discipline are more likely to be or become abusive to their children. The psychologist [Elizabeth Thompson Gershoff](https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2002/06/spanking) describes the limitations of corporal punishment: “There is general consensus that corporal punishment is effective in getting children to comply immediately while at the same time there is caution from child abuse researchers that corporal punishment by its nature can escalate into physical maltreatment”. Physical punishment can culminate in serious physical injuries, and studies have shown that it can cause [mental health problems](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3447048/), feelings of fear and resentment towards parents, and a hindrance to cognitive development.