"Spare the rod; spoil the child" was a fairly common attitude
that many parents took to heart. Spanking was the way you
disciplined a misbehaving child - even if the child wasn't
capable of understanding what they were doing wrong. Over the
years, spanking has declined some in popularity. A just released
twenty-year study reveals the long-term harmful effect that
spanking or slapping has on a child's development. The study
found that children who were spanked as an everyday physical
punishment were more aggressive against parents, siblings, peers
and spouses. The authors also noted that physical punishment is
linked to various mental health problems, including anxiety,
depression, and drug and alcohol abuse. What's more, recent
neuroimaging studies have shown that physical punishment may
alter parts of the brain that are linked to performance on IQ
tests and increase vulnerability to drug or alcohol dependence,
they write. "I think it's important for parents to understand
that although physical punishment mig