I Must Be Really Dumb!!!

This story has me fired up.

I think I could write for a long time and dispute every point of this article. But I'll just touch on a couple of things that really ruffle my feathers.

• "One might ask, however, whether children who are spanked then to come from backgrounds in which education opportunities are less or inherited intelligence lower." My thoughts on the matter: Children who are spanked (and I was one of them thankyouverymuch) have the same educational opportunities as children who aren't spanked. And in my honest, totally uneducated opinion, those of us who were spanked probably tend to be a little better behaved and have a little more respect for authority.
• The authors' study showed that on average, a spanked child between the ages of 2 and 4 scored 5 points lower on an IQ test that kids in the same age group who were not spanked. Spanked kids between the ages of 5 and 9 scored, on average, 2.8 points lower than their unspanked counterparts. My thoughts on the matter: Give me a break!!! It says the author took into account parental education, income, cognitive stimulation by parents and other factors that could affect children's mental abilities but I can't help but wonder if they took into account any type of test anxiety, environmental distractions, etc. C'mon ... 2.8 points??? Does that even deserve to be printed? I hardly think I'm going to quit spanking my children (out of love, mind you) because I'm fearful that their IQ may suffer by 2 or 3 points. Hmpf!
• "Contrary to what everyone believes, being hit by parents is a traumatic experience," My thoughts on the matter: This author is exactly right; being hit by a parent would be very traumatic. However, being spanked by a parent (while it can be quite painful on the bum) is anything but traumatic.
• By using hitting rather than words or other means of discipline, parents could be depriving kids of learning opportunities. "With spanking, a parent is delivering a punishment to get the child's attention and to get them to behave in a certain way," said Elizabeth Gershoff, who studies childhood development at the University of Texas, Austin. "It's not fostering children's independent thinking." So when a child gets in a bind, he or she might do the right thing to keep from a spanking rather than figuring out the best decision independently. My thoughts on the matter: This author must've been spanked as a child because this is one of the dumbest things I've ever read! *GASP* What? My child might actually do the right thing to avoid a consequence? You've got to be kidding?!?!? And independent thinking? My kids are perfectly capable of thinking on their own and they do it quite often (of sometimes rather loudly). And you know what, if we're talking about minor things - what they're going to wear that day, how to build a Lego tower, the book they want to read, etc - I absolutely encourage them to think on their own. But when we get down to a situation where they're in a situation and consequences are warranted, it is my responsibility as my kids' parent to help guide them. And sometimes that guidance will have a good old fashioned spanking in there. Period.

So, what say you?