小孩儿常被打屁股易变傻

      The preponderance of evidence points away from corporal punishment, which the European Union and the United Nations have recommended against, but the data suggest that most parents, especially those in the U.S., still spank their kids. Based on his international data, collected by surveying more than 17,000 college students in various countries, Straus found that countries with higher GDP tended to be those where corporal punishment was used less often. In the U.S., the tendency to hit also varies with income, along with geography and culture; it's most common among African-American families, Southern families, parents who were spanked as children themselves and those who identify themselves as conservative Christians.

　　欧盟与联合国方面从另一个角度提出，这些证据除了可证明体罚会有何种后果之外，更为有力地反映出的是现今的某些问题：多数家长，尤其是美国的父母，对体罚他们的小孩仍是理直气壮。从斯特劳斯在世界各国家得到的 17000名学生的调查结果里面，亦发现一个国家的GDP越高，这里的家长越少体罚孩子。在美国，体罚现象跟家庭的收入状况、地理和文化因素有关。在亚裔家庭、南部家庭里面更为常见。如果家长小时侯也被体罚过，或者家长自认为是保守的基督教徒，也更可能体罚孩子。

　　But overall the percentage of parents who spank has been steadily declining. Straus says that in 1968, 94% of Americans told surveyors they agreed with spanking. By 2005, the proportion who said it is "sometimes O.K. to spank a child" had fallen to 72%, although most researchers believe the actual incidence of corporal punishment is higher.

　　不过总的来说，体罚小孩的家长还是越来越少了。斯特劳斯说，1968年的时候，有94%的美国人认可体罚。到2005年，同意“有时候体罚孩子是可以的”的人占的比例下降到72%，虽然有些研究者认为实际上体罚事件发生的更频繁了。

　　The practice has its defenders, and Straus himself admits, with chagrin in his voice, that he spanked his own son. In the 1990s, the American Academy of Pediatrics underwent a bitter fight before finally declaring in 1998 that "corporal punishment is of limited effectiveness and has potentially deleterious side effects."

　　连斯特劳斯自己都懊恼地承认，他有时候会打孩子屁股。当然,也会有人为体罚辩护。90年代的时候，美国儿科学会做了许多艰苦的工作，才得以在1998年公开宣布“体罚对孩子没有多少正面作用，且可能造成潜在的负面影响”

　　Sometimes spanking seems like the only way to get through to an unruly toddler. But the price for fixing his poor short-term conduct might be an even more troublesome outcome in the future.

　　有时候人们会觉得，如果孩子调皮捣蛋，那不打不行。但是，这种对孩子行为的暂时的修正，却有可能会给他的将来造成更大的麻烦。