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UT recognizing Child Abuse Prevention Month |
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Shannon Wermer |
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Apr 24, 2008 |
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The only person who can be legally hit in the United States is in fact the most vulnerable. According to Dr. Michele Knox, UT associate professor of psychiatry, the most commonly hit person in America is an 18-month-old to 4-year-old child.
April is Child Abuse Prevention Month and Wednesday, April 30, is Spank Out Day.
Spank Out Day promotes effective, nonviolent punishment and the need to end physical punishment of children.
In hopes of educating as many people as possible and helping to make them more aware of this issue, child psychologists and psychiatrists from UT will be available to talk about the issue of parents hitting children during April.
A total of 23 nations, including six within the last year, have declared it illegal to hit children. The United States is not one of these nations. According to Knox, the world is moving toward banning all forms of violence against children, including corporal punishment, but “The U.S. is out of sync on this issue.”
Knox said there are several negative factors associated with hitting children; these include aggression, delinquency and adult criminal behavior. She reports that hitting in the name of discipline has been shown to be the most common first step in the cycle of physical abuse.
Once an instinctual behavior is started, it is very hard to stop, according to Knox. This is true for eating when hungry, sleeping when tired and other instinctual behaviors. She said this is also true for aggression; once an angry parent starts to hit a child, it is very hard for that parent to stop hitting.
“So we cannot sanction any hitting of children. It is a very slippery slope that too often ends in abuse,” Knox said.
She hopes to make adults more aware of this issue so that they can choose from the beginning to discipline their children using more effective, nonviolent methods.
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