Nearly 20% of millennial, Gen Z parents spank their kids: poll

Despite a decline in support for using spanking as a punishment in Canada, around 20% of millennial and Gen Z parents report that they spank their children, according to a study that explored beliefs about whether spanking a child is ever necessary.

The study, published in the Canadian Journal of Public Health in April, found that 18.7% of Gen Z parents and 22.1% of millennial parents admitted to spanking their children. Gen X parents were more likely to report spanking their children than the other two generations, at 45%.

Researchers also asked over 3,700 adults about their beliefs on spanking. Fifteen percent of respondents said they believed “it is necessary to use spanking to properly raise a child.” By contrast, 72.6% did not support that belief, while 10.6% said they did not know and 1.8% said they preferred not to answer.

Millennials and Gen X respondents were more likely to have experienced spanking during childhood than Gen Z respondents, the study found. Researchers also noted that “having a history of being spanked as a child was associated with increasing odds of spanking one’s own child.”

The study also reported that “the prevalence of spanking history among Canadian adults is high,” with 55.6% of Canadian adults reporting that they had been spanked three or more times as children.

“40.2% indicated no (never, one or two times only) to spanking, 3.6% reported not knowing about spanking history, and 0.6% preferred not to answer,” the study reported. “Those who spanked were mostly mothers (74.5%) and fathers (73.4%) followed by grandmothers (12.0%).”

“A small proportion of the sample indicated estimating the onset of spanking at between 0 and 1 years (0.7%) with 14.0% indicating age of last occurrence between 13 and 17 years,” the report continued.

Among those who were spanked, 22.6% “reported it leaving a mark or a bruise or causing lasting physical pain.”

“Ongoing policies and prevention strategies are needed in Canada to further reduce both the attitudinal belief that spanking is necessary to properly raise a child and the use of spanking in a disciplinary context,” the researchers concluded. “An important step in advancing child protection in Canada is to repeal the law permitting spanking and to enhance prevention efforts with a focus on gender and sexual identity.”

Weighing in on the debate over appropriate punishments for children, Dr. Danny Huerta, vice president of parenting and youth at the Evangelical parachurch ministry Focus on the Family, told The Christian Post that spanking “should be used as a last resort in the parenting toolbox.”

“If a parent is disciplining out of anger and pure emotion, spanking is never the right option,” Huerta said.

He also stressed that parents should only use spanking on children younger than 7, adding that it must be done with a “clear purpose, followed up with repair and reconnection.”

The psychologist emphasized that parents who spank their children should only deliver “a firm swat on a child’s back end — not one that causes bruising.”

“A parent must be in a place of clarity and self-control to provide discipline well. Discipline is about clear and loving guidance,” Huerta added. “Spanking needs to offer a distinct reminder of correction.”

For example, Huerta said that if a child blatantly disobeys by running into the street, a spanking can provide “a clear boundary and attention-getting reminder for that child,” which he said “could save that child’s life.”

He added that there are many other options in the “parenting toolbox,” including verbal reminders, timeouts, redirection and firm correction.

“Spanking needs to be extremely infrequent, self-controlled, and followed up with love and warmth,” Huerta said, pointing to his book, 7 Traits of Effective Parenting.

“7 Traits of Effective Parenting begins with adaptability and respect because situational parenting needs to adjust to who the child is, what the child needs, what the situation requires, and what is happening inside the parent,” the author and psychologist said.