The research suggests that parents who spank their children are actually unable to regulate their own emotions. Spanking is a shortcut, an emotional bypass from parental discomfort, anger, or helplessness. Parents justify spanking in all kinds of ways, but it is an abuse of power. Spanking leads to fear, aggression, humiliation, and withdrawal in children. Spanking a child is the opposite of nurturing, protecting, or guiding.
