Everything described here is part of healthy, normal development.

Since Voddie is an advocate for hitting children, let’s look at the science.

Hitting as a form of punishment inhibits gray matter in the brain and slows development of self-control (regulation) in children. https://twitter.com/landjax/status/1264023541592272896

Babies are born with very few neural connections. In order for those connections to develop, kids need a safe space for learning to share, learning autonomy, learning to respect other people’s bodies and emotions.

When we hit kids to “teach a lesson,” it only teaches fear.

Fear, the release of fight or flight hormones by the amygdala, limits your ability to learn.

When you are terrified, your amygdala effectively blocks access to the prefrontal cortex because, evolutionarily, waiting too long to act in a high-threat scenario meant death.

We have 50 years of data on hitting kids. This isn’t a new discovery. Hitting children puts them in a fight or flight response, which means they are no longer learning. Only their lizard brain is online. They are trying to survive.

Hence the reduction in gray matter.