Cortisol (the “stress hormone”) is produced in high quantities from the adrenal glands. The only way to significantly eliminate cortisol from the body, other than preventing its production in the first place, is through emotional tears (which parents often suppress with, “quit your crying!”) and sweat from physical exertion (think of the exertion of running away from a bear or lifting a burning car off of a loved one).
The sympathetic nervous systemtakes over the body. Reproductive and digestive systems become slack (sometimes resulting in a child peeing or pooping their pants), pupils dilate, heart rate increases…you get the idea.
Cortisol triggers neurotransmitter spikes: dopamine, glutamate, adrenaline, noradrenaline. When dopamine levels are too high/low, we see impulsivity, inability to focus, and an absence of learning. High glutamate levels are associated with aggressiveness.
Boys are vulnerable, as they tend to externalize their emotions physically and get into even more trouble, increasing the risk of being spanked again. Girls tend to internalize with shame and low self-esteem.
Fear shuts down the hippocampus, responsible for memory processing, so often the child will have no memory of why they were spanked.
Blood flow to the prefrontal cortex decreases, particularly the left hemisphere, the part of the brain responsible for reason, cause-effect associations, chronological organization, verbal skills, speech production, learning and memory. If you ask a child to speak to you while you’re disciplining them harshly, they will often not be able to speak or recall clearly with their verbal skills. This is why if you’ve asked your child to recall why they’re in trouble, ever heard a whiny, drawling, “I don’t knoooooooow…”?
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(science facts compiled by Rebecca Dwyer.)
Cortisol triggers neurotransmitter spikes: dopamine, glutamate, adrenaline, noradrenaline. When dopamine levels are too high/low, we see impulsivity, inability to focus, and an absence of learning. High glutamate levels are associated with aggressiveness.
Boys are vulnerable, as they tend to externalize their emotions physically and get into even more trouble, increasing the risk of being spanked again. Girls tend to internalize with shame and low self-esteem.
Fear shuts down the hippocampus, responsible for memory processing, so often the child will have no memory of why they were spanked.
Blood flow to the prefrontal cortex decreases, particularly the left hemisphere, the part of the brain responsible for reason, cause-effect associations, chronological organization, verbal skills, speech production, learning and memory. If you ask a child to speak to you while you’re disciplining them harshly, they will often not be able to speak or recall clearly with their verbal skills. This is why if you’ve asked your child to recall why they’re in trouble, ever heard a whiny, drawling, “I don’t knoooooooow…”?
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If threatening your child with a spanking, or spanking them, was God's idea, the processes in the brain when this occurs would lead to learning, health, and LIFE. But it leads to exactly the opposite.
Romans 1:18
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools...
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