Spare the rod and develop the child

Study suggests non-corporal discipline aids children's executive-functioning ability. Children in a school that uses corporal punishment performed significantly worse in tasks involving 'executive functioning' ' psychological processes such as planning, abstract thinking, and delaying gratification ' than those in a school relying on milder disciplinary measures such as time-outs, according to a new study involving two private schools in a West African country. The findings, published by the journal Social Development, suggest that a harshly punitive environment may have long-term detrimental effects on children's verbal intelligence and their executive-functioning ability. As a result, children exposed to a harshly punitive environment may be at risk for behavioral problems related to deficits in executive-functioning, the study indicates. The study - by Victoria Talwar of McGill University, Stephanie M. Carlson of the University of Minnesota, and Kang Lee of the University of Toronto, involved 63 children in kindergarten or first grade at two West African private schools. Their families lived in the same urban neighborhood. The parents were largely civil servants, professionals and merchants.