Misplaced or dodged blows that are intended to be light sometimes cause ruptured eardrums or falls. Shaking babies or toddlers can cause concussion, brain damage and death. Mild punishments in infancy are so ineffective that they tend to escalate as children grow. The 'little slap' of babyhood often becomes a real spanking by four years and a belting by seven. While not all physical abuse of children is a simple escalation of physical punishment, parents convicted of cruelty frequently explain that their ill-treatment of the child began with disciplinary intent.
Physical punishment can be emotionally harmful to children.
An enormous body of research shows that aggression breeds aggression. National commissions or committees in the United States, the Council of Europe, Germany, and Australia have all recommended ending the physical punishment of children as the most effective single way of reducing all violence in society. Psychological research shows that where there is a contradiction between an adult's words and actions, children pay more attention to what is done than to what is said. If there is one circumstance above all others in which physical punishment is most likely to produce aggression it is the use of physical punishment FOR aggressive behavior. Even while the punishing parent's words say 'you are not to hit other people,' his hitting hand demonstrates the opposite.