Quote:
Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins
Again, if we accept that the kids in the past were paddled more often, why are the rates of criminal behavior so high, and why did they drop off if the null hypothesis is that parents have become more lax over time?
Violent crime rates began dropping shortly after 1990. That's 29 years ago. Corporal punishment was unheard of in my elementary and secondary experience which started in '88 and ran through 2000, and while the rates of people who agree that spanking is acceptable has declined, it's a very gradual decline over the last 25 years. Rates of corporal punishment have also declined over the last generation, and the practice is largely unheard of now outside of the South.
As a parent that has used spanking as a redirect, I'm not against it, but there is no compelling evidence that things like paddling or using a belt lead to better outcomes. If there were, one would expect a relative change in the rate of various offenses, but the data is not there.
Every older generation thinks younger generations are soft pussies, and every older generation overrates their toughess. I'm old enough to remember when the 50-somethings on this board were all labeled as morose, navel-gazing slackers by their parents. It was a bullshit characterization, too.
Part of a parent's job is to discipline their child and instill a set of morals and values in them, but I don't think the child should never fear the parent.
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I didn’t connect that you were discussing punishment beyond simple spanking. So that form of corporal punishment definitely has been in decline longer than spanking.
After thinking about it for a minute I think some major global war events definitely contributed to those rapidly rising numbers prior to the 1990s decline.