What’s the Alternative to Spanking?

Most of us have witnessed young children being spanked by an angry parent and wondered if it was really called for. Findings from a Duke University study suggest that spanking children at age 1 predicts aggressive behavior problems at age 2 and is linked to lower mental development test scores at age 3. Lisa Berlin says one-third of the 1-year-olds and about half of the 2- and 3-year-olds she studied had been spanked the previous week. Can so many parents be wrong? As CNN reports, the experts don’t agree on the issue. What’s your view? Should parents never spank — or are there times when it’s appropriate?