Lesson Eleven Spanking and alternatives 第十一課 打屁股和其他懲罰

When the topic of disciplining children comes up, attention naturally focuses on eliminating unwanted behavior, and use of punishment as a means to achieve that. The various behavior change tools we've been discussing can readily eliminate unwanted behavior. And that gives many more options and more effective options than punishment.

每次說到教訓孩子,我們總會關註通過懲罰的方式消除孩子的壞毛病。我們這門課中討論的各種行為改變工具都可以消除壞毛病，這些都比懲罰要更有效。

Yet punishment is in widespread use in many different forms and is the first option often selected to change behavior. This is true both at home and at school. In separate lessons I've talked about punishment basics and time out for reinforcement.

但是懲罰的使用通常更廣泛，也一般是我們談到行為改變時，第一個想到的方法，不管是在傢還是在學校都一樣。前幾節課中我講瞭講懲罰還有暫停。

In the basics, I mentioned that any type of punishment, whether it's verbal reprimands, loss of privileges, timeout, spanking and so on has two noteworthy characteristics. First, they're not very effective ways of changing behavior. And second, they often have negative side effects such as emotional reactions on the part of the child, escaping and avoiding the people in situations associated with punishment, and aggression toward the parent and teacher and others.

我提到過任何方式的懲罰，無論是言語上的責備、失去特權、暫停、還是打孩子等等，它們都有2個特點。第一，它們並不能十分有效改地變行為。第二，它們一般還能帶來副作用。比如孩子的情緒反應，或者試圖逃離給他懲罰的人，然後對傢長老師等等有過激行為。

The goal of this lesson is to discuss physical punishment: hitting, spanking, paddling and the like. These can have additional negative outcomes. By physical or corporal punishment, I am including any physical contact or hitting.

這節課的目的是來討論打孩子這個身體懲罰。這個會有更多的消極結果，這裡的體罰，我包括瞭所有的身體接觸或者打。

Spanking is the most familiar, but also would be hitting, slapping, kicking, punching. Any of these physical assaults. Now, I'm not talking about child abuse in this video.

打屁股是最常見的，但其它的打、扇、踢都是一樣，任何這種身體懲罰都算。這個視頻裡我不會講虐待兒童。

Abuse is severe physical punishment in which there might be more extreme pain, physical marks, and even open wounds, and often the use of objects such as belts, sticks and the like as part of the punishment. Obviously, abuse is a very important topic and filled with tragedy. For example, in the United States, four to five children die every day due to child abuse and or neglect.

虐待是一種非常嚴重的身體懲罰，可能會帶來極端的痛苦、身體印記，甚至可見的傷口，通常這時候會用到皮鞭、棍子或者類似的工具。顯然，虐待是個很重要且難過的話題。例如，在美國，每天都有四五個孩子是因為虐待和忽視而死亡。

So the topic is obviously important. In this video, I want to talk about the more common practices of spanking and hitting children, that are not part of that extreme level. Even without this extreme, there are many effects and negative side effects worth noting.

所以很顯然這個話題很重要。這個視頻中，我將會探討打屁股這種更常見的懲罰方法，不討論極端的懲罰。即便沒有虐待這個極端的懲罰，任何身體懲罰都帶有負面影響。

Before I continue, I want to acknowledge that physical punishment is a delicate topic. In part, because it's connected to religion, culture, and often strong personal beliefs about what is appropriate to control child behavior. I discussed physical punishment to convey the research findings on what the effects of physical punishment are on children. And the effectiveness of punishment as a behavior change technique.

在我繼續之前，我要承認體罰是一個微妙的話題。一部分原因在於它和宗教文化有關，也和個人關於控制孩子行為上，究竟哪些方法合適的想法有關。我在這裡要講的身體懲罰是告訴大傢研究是怎麼說身體懲罰對孩子的影響的，以及對於行為改變來說懲罰的有效性。

The research findings on physical punishment have contributed to world-wide interest in the topic. There are many major organizations in the U.S. and throughout the world that recommend eliminating the use of physical punishment of children, and that includes spanking. For example, going back a few decades, the United Nations has advocated for the elimination of all physical punishment of children by parents and teachers. Many countries have actually adopted the recommendation. As of 2016, approximately 50 countries out of a total of just over 190 countries have completely banned physical punishment.

對於身體懲罰的研究，讓更多世界各地的人對這個話題有瞭興趣。美國乃至全世界，都有很多重要組織建議不要對孩子使用身體懲罰，包括打屁股。比如，幾十年前聯合國曾呼籲老師和傢長不要對孩子使用任何形式的身體懲罰。很多國傢都采用瞭這個建議。截至2016年，聯合國的190多個國傢中有約50個已經全面禁止身體懲罰。

By banned, I mean, it is against the law for anyone to hit a child even under the guise of discipline and even by a parent. There are many legal issues as well in the United States and elsewhere that are raised by spanking. For example, among the legal issues, is the concern that it is illegal for one adult to hit another adult, but it's legal for an adult to hit a child.

這裡的全面禁止指的是任何人，哪怕是傢長，都不能任何哪怕教訓的名義打孩子，否則就是違法。在美國還有很多其他地方都有因為打屁股導致的法律事件。比如在這些法律事件中，有關註到一個成年人打另一個成年人是違法的，但是一個成年人打一個孩子是合法的。

And that seems inconsistent in the law. I mentioned some of these broader point to convey that spanking is a topic of enormous concern not just as a discipline practice in the home, but a part of national and international social policy and law. My goal today, is much more focused to convey research on spanking and its effects and hopefully to provide information that will be useful.

這似乎有不一致性。我之前說過，打屁股不僅僅因為是一種在傢的懲罰手段而受到廣泛關註。它也因為國內國際社會政策和法律而廣受關註。我今天的目標是，更多關註關於打屁股的研究以及它的影響。然後希望能給大傢提供些有用的信息。

Spanking whether mild or severe is not likely to suppress behavior beyond the moment that the child is hit. And we know that spanking also will not teach the desired behaviors that parents want. When spanking is used relatively frequently, or as the primary and regular method of disciplining children, we know a lot more about its effects.

不管是輕打屁股還是重打都隻能一時讓孩子停止壞毛病，僅此而已。我們也知道打屁股不會教孩子什麼才是正確的行為。打屁股相對常見，甚至說是教訓孩子的首要或常用辦法。我們關於它的效果還知道很多。

The level of spanking we're talking about is about once a week, sometimes more. Usually, the child is hit with an open hand and usually on the buttocks, there's no physical injury or open wounds. So again, we're not talking about severe physical punishment.

我們這裡說的打屁股，是大概一周一次偶爾更多。通常傢長就用手打，打在臀部，沒有身體傷害或者造成傷口。所以再次強調，我們這裡說的不是重度的身體懲罰。

Children who receive a moderate to a more severe amount of spanking, are much more likely to show many undesirable outcomes. These include: increased aggression, disruptive and antisocial behavior at home and at school, poor academic achievement as reflected in lower grades, being held back a grade and not graduating from high school, reduced ability to control impulsive behavior later in life, higher rates of mental problems in childhood and adulthood.

受到中度或者重度打屁股的孩子，更容易顯現出很多不好的毛病。包括，過激行為增加，在傢裡和學校不聽話、不合群，學習不好，成績糟糕，留級，還有高中畢不瞭業，在以後的生活中不會控制沖動，容易有心理問題。

For example, in adulthood the risk increases for depression, anxiety, and alcohol and drug use, and increased risk of poor physical health outcomes as adults, and earlier than expected death due to a compromised immune system. Perhaps the most surprising findings to me are the impact of spanking on physical health. Adults who've been regularly spanked in their youth, are more likely to die at a younger age, and more likely to die from heart disease, cancer, and chronic respiratory disease, than those who were spanked infrequently or not spanked at all when they were growing up.

比如，他們成年之後抑鬱、焦慮、酗酒、吸毒的可能性更大，然後健康狀況不好。最後由於免疫系統脆弱導致過早死亡。其中一個很讓我意想不到的發現是打屁股對於身體健康的影響。經常在小時候被打的成年人更容易過早死亡，更容易由於心臟問題和癌癥而死亡，還有其它慢性呼吸疾病，可能性比那些不經常被打屁股的人大。

The reasoning for these physical health consequences are not completely understood, but the continued stress of harsh punishment looks like it can change the immune system of the child in permanent ways. So lifelong, the individual is much more susceptible to various diseases.

現在我們還不十分清楚，具體什麼導致瞭這些身體問題，但看起來持續的嚴厲的懲罰會給孩子的免疫系統造成永久的傷害。所以長期來講，這個人身體會相對較弱。

As with anything, the negative outcomes do not apply to everyone, and we do not know how to predict who will be affected at this time. But since the benefits of spanking in changing behavior have not been evident and the undesirable effects have been repeatedly shown, corporal punishment is not advocated as a punishment technique.

像其它事情一樣，不是每個人都會遭受這種負面結果。我們目前也不知道，如何預測究竟誰會被影響，但既然打屁股對行為改變的作用並不明顯，而副作用卻一直有，我們在懲罰技巧中不推薦體罰。

Let me take a second to consider an irony of the use of spanking. From surveys, parents say that the two most common reasons they use physical punishment is for aggression and noncompliance in their children. The irony is, that spanking is actually likely to increase aggressive behavior in the child and will have little or no effect on compliance overall.

讓我們花點時間看一個打屁股的例子。調查顯示，傢長經常說他們最常用的兩個體罰原因，就是孩子的過激行為，還有不聽話。諷刺的是打屁股實際上很可能增加這種過激行為，還不會讓孩子更聽話。

In fact, spanking may even increase oppositional behavior and noncompliance. So a parent may spank or hit a child as a punishment when that child has hit a sibling, this will only make the child more likely to hit you back, to continue to hit the sibling during play time, and even more likely to hit others at school. And the use of physical punishment is also likely to lead to more noncompliance. The child will try to escape from the parent and oppose what the parents is trying to accomplish.

實際上，打屁股甚至會增加壞習慣和不聽話的發生頻率。所以傢長可能在孩子打兄弟姐妹的時候轉而打孩子，這個隻會讓孩子還手，然後以後繼續打兄弟姐妹，甚至打兄弟姐妹的可能性更大瞭。利用身體懲罰會讓孩子越來越不聽話。孩子會試圖躲避父母或者逆著父母來。

In another video, I noted that force including physical force leaves human to react in opposite ways from what the force is trying to accomplish. In short, physical punishment tends to perpetuate the exact behaviors, it is intended to stop. So if corporal punishment really has all these negative outcomes, how can people continue to use it?

之前一節課上，我講過任何強迫包括身體強迫都隻會讓人更逆反。簡而言之，身體懲罰很容易導致相反的行為，造成反效果。所以如果身體懲罰真的有這麼多負面影響，人們為什麼還繼續使用這個方法呢？

Well, for one reason, punishment is firmly connected to our beliefs, traditions, and child rearing practices. And those are often part of religious and cultural beliefs. But there are other reasons as well. Consider a few that look like they have a huge influence on why we continue to use punishment and spanking in particular. First, the child's behavior usually stops immediately when he or she is hit and that locks in the parent's behavior.

一個原因是因為我們的信念、傳統還有育兒方法都讓我們覺得懲罰是有用的。這個想法經常由於宗教和文化信念而根深蒂固。此外還有其他的原因，它們似乎讓我們覺得懲罰真的有用，尤其是打屁股。第一，孩子一被打一般就會馬上停止壞行為，這也就是傢長會覺得懲罰很有用。

This connection of stopping the behavior as soon as the punishment is given is referred to as negative reinforcement of the parent's behavior. The connection is learned and is very strong. The ineffectiveness of punishment is delayed, and those delayed consequences do not have much impact on firmly learned connections. The whole sequence has been referred to as the punishment trap, because the connection of parent punishment and immediately stopping the behavior of the child, traps the parent in continuing to punish.

這種懲罰和行為停止之間的練習被稱為傢長行為的負面強化。這種聯系十分強大，而懲罰的無效性是延遲的，而這些延遲的結果對於減弱聯系沒什麼用。這整個過程被稱作懲罰陷阱。因為傢長的懲罰和孩子的行為馬上停止，這兩者的緊密聯系讓傢長陷入瞭繼續懲罰的陷阱中。

Second, we have learned that aggressive actions either are doing them or watching them can activate reward centers in the brain. That means that being aggressive, whether toward a child or another person can have some biological reward value, and that can help maintain spanking.

第二，我們知道攻擊性行動，無論是自己做還是電視上看都會激活大腦的獎勵中心。也就是說，無論對待孩子還是另一個人有攻擊性都會帶來一些生物獎勵價值。而這個使得傢長會繼續打屁股。

Third, corporal punishment is used in schools in the United States and this is recognized as a legitimate way of dealing with children outside the home. For example, in the US, over 900 children are hit by their teachers every day in the public schools. Because hitting with a wooden paddle is the most common form of hitting in schools, perhaps it's no surprise, that each year 10 to 20 thousand students require medical attention.

第一，美國學校中也用體罰，這被視作在傢外教育孩子的合理方法。比如，在美國，每天在公立學校有超過900個孩子被老師打，因為在學校最常見的打法，使用木板。因此，可能也並不驚訝，每年一到兩萬的學生因此需要去看醫生。

In short leaving aside parental use, hitting children is still recognized as a legitimate form of punishment. Interestingly, 31 states in the United States have banned punishment in public schools but hitting is actively used in the remaining states. And the effectiveness of physical punishment at school is no different from that punishment at home. It is not effective strategy for changing behavior especially for developing positive behaviors that parents and teachers want.

簡而言之，除瞭傢長以外，在學校打孩子也被視為是合理懲罰手段。很有趣，美國的31個州已經在公立學校禁止懲罰，但打仍舊在其它州被廣泛使用。在學校，懲罰的作用跟在傢是一樣的，這對於改變行為沒什麼用。尤其是在培養老師傢長想看到的積極對立行為上。

In this video, I have tried to summarize what might be the most useful things to know about spanking. Here are the main findings. As with any punishment, spanking is likely to stop the behavior at the moment it is administered, however, that's short term. In the next several days and weeks, spanking does not seem to reduce the negative behavior for which the child is punished.

本節課中，我試圖總結瞭關於打屁股我們最該知道的一些事。以下是主要發現。像其它懲罰一樣，打屁股會即刻停止壞行為。但是，這種停止是短期的。在接下來幾天和幾周中，打屁股不會減少孩子的那個壞行為。

In fact, if one is hitting a child for aggression and noncompliance, the punishment is likely to make these behaviors worse.But the effects of spanking can be much broader and these effects are negative. In the long term, children who are frequently hit and or spanked have much higher rates of physical and mental health problems when they grow up. They are much more likely to use and abuse drugs and alcohol, to have more run ins with the law, to have more problems in keeping jobs and in maintaining relationships.

實際上，如果一個孩子因為攻擊性行為或者不聽話而被打，懲罰很可能會讓行為更糟。

但是打屁股的效果其實更廣，而且這些都是負面的。長期來看，經常被打的孩子，在長大之後有身體和心理問題的可能性更高。他們更可能使用或濫用藥物和酒精，破壞法律的可能性更大，在保住工作和維持人際關系方面有更多的問題。

A parent might ask, "Well, if I stop corporal punishment, will the behavior just get worse?" It looks as if the opposite is true, even on a large scale. For example, when corporal punishment is banned in a country, child aggressive and anti-social behavior actually decline over the next several years. From a behavior change standpoint, there is no need to spank. And if punishment is used in the home, we know how to make that effective in eliminating behaviors, two tools I use that I have discussed in separate lessons.

傢長可能會問，如果我停止身體懲罰這個行為會不會更糟。事實似乎恰恰相反，即便我們廣義來看。例如，當一個國傢禁止體罰時，在接下來的幾年裡，兒童的侵略性和反社會行為實際上會下降。從行為改變來講，沒有必要打屁股。如果在傢中使用懲罰，我們知道如何有效地消除壞毛病。 我在其它節課上討論過兩個工具。

First, provide positive reinforcement for positive opposites. To be effective, this part ought to be the main emphasis to develop the behaviors we want. By emphasis, I mean that the positive behavior needs to be praised and attended to, much more often than the number of times that punishment is used for the negative behavior. So if one made the child go to timeout three times a day or a week for some misbehavior, the frequency of attention and praise for the positive opposite should be much more frequent. At least, two or three times that number. That can really be effective in eliminating the behavior and achieving enduring changes.

第一，用於積極對立的積極強化。為瞭真正增強我們想要的行為。這部分很重要，我的意思是積極行為應該被表揚，被特別註意。相比於我們關註負面行為的力度。因此，如果一天或者一周中讓孩子三次暫停，那麼給積極對立行為的關註和表揚就要更多，至少是暫停的兩三倍。這真的可以有效地消除行為和實現持久的變化。

Second, the punishment ought to be mild and brief. A short time out or a loss of privilege will achieve any benefits of the punishment, more severe and intense does not increase the effectiveness. To change behavior, corporal punishment has not shown any advantage over mild punishment. And milder punishments are less likely to have enduring mental and physical health consequences that are associated with frequent hitting.

第二，懲罰應該是溫和的和簡短的。短時間的失去特權和暫停已經可以讓懲罰奏效瞭。更加嚴厲和嚴重的懲罰並不會讓懲罰更有效。在改變行為上，體力懲罰沒比輕度懲罰更有用。溫和的懲罰相比於體力懲罰對身體和心理的傷害，要小得多。

A separate video on developing positive opposites and another on timeout will be helpful. These are powerful tools to eliminate unwanted behaviors and to develop positive pro-social behaviors, in place of those unwanted behaviors. The overall goal is to help you with challenges in the home, to make you even more effective as a parent, and to develop habits in your child that will be enduring. Other videos also add tools and practices at home toward these goals.

大傢可以看看之前講到培養積極對立還有暫停的視頻。這些都是有力消除壞毛病，培養好習慣的工具，都能有效改變行為。我們的最終目的是，幫你作為傢長有效改變行為，培養孩子持久的好習慣。其它視頻也講到瞭這些工具和方法。

（中英文如有不同之處，請以英文為準）