Shadowing Practice: STUDY: Spanking your kids does more harm than good - Learn English Speaking with Video
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A new study shows children who are spanked are more likely to defy parents, have more aggression, antisocial behavior, and mental health problems.
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This study, published in the month of Journal of Family Psychology, analyzed 50 years of spanking research.
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Now, it showed while kids may not immediately defy their parents after a spanking, they're more likely to be aggressive a bit later,
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to have worse relationships with their parents, and to grow up to have alcohol and substance abuse problems.
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Now, just to be clear, this study focused on open -handed spanking and not beatings.
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Researchers wanted to see if the time -honored practice really works as well as people believe it does.
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So as you can imagine, this has gotten a ton of comments online.
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Last time I checked on our Facebook page, like 350 comments.
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So we wanted to see what some people were saying.
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Michael says, this depends.
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Everyone is different.
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Spanking might not work with some kids, and it may with others.
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Mike says, spanking works great.
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You only need to look at kids of today, the no spank generation, to see how well it did work in the past.
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Also, we have some more here.
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Patricia says there are other ways to discipline, such as a timeout, taking something away, etc. One more says from Carol,
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oh please, the greatest generation was spanked.
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Did they become crybabies?
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Millennials weren't spanked, and well, they are crybabies.
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So a lot of opinion out there versus the old days to the new days, the millennials versus the greatest generation.
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So a lot of people talking about this, and we're going to talk about it some more as well.
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Let's send it over to Stacey with the latest.
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Thanks, Josh.
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I just threatened to take the cell phone away.
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That'll work.
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That's perfect.
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So what do experts think about this spanking study, and does it seem accurate?
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Today, eight on your side has answers, expert answers.
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Joining us now is psychologist Dr. Stacey Schechner.
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Thank you for being here.
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Thanks for having me.
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What's your take on spanking in general as a psychologist?
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Yes.
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In general, just like we used to have horse and buggies
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and we didn't have cell phones now we do
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so maybe it did work in the past because that's the only thing
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that parents knew how to discipline but now we have
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so many more ways to discipline kids
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so many more research -based empirically based scientifically based ways
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that help kids learn you know rules and consequences
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because a lot of people probably of a certain generation say hey i was spanked
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and i turned out okay i personally was not spanked as a child i was not spanked either
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and I deal with this almost all day long in my practice.
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They say I was spanked, so I turned out well.
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But if you really think about it, do you want a parent out of fear or do you want a parent out of love?
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Also, when you don't pay your electric bill, you don't get electric, it's not that you get spanked.
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You don't get electrocuted.
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That's right.
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Electric cutoff.
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That's right.
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When you speed, you get a ticket.
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You don't get spanked.
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So if you tell your child to brush your teeth and they choose not to,
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then you have to pick the next consequence afterwards to train them.
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When mommy or daddy tells you to brush your teeth, then brush your teeth.
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Spanking has nothing to do with it.
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Because truthfully, consequences are throughout life.
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That's exactly right.
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You will find them in all different ways and it won't be physical.
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And it won't be physical.
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With school shootings and with bullying nowadays, the last thing that we want to do is teach kids through any type of physical aggression or violence.
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We want to say to them, when you do something wrong, this is what happens in life, not someone's going to come up and hit you.
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So if you don't listen to mom or dad, here plainly are the consequences and you need to learn them.
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So when does spanking cross the line?
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Because there are still a lot of parents out there who believe in it.
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Spanking definitely crosses the line if you're doing out of anger.
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So if you're angry at a child didn't do his homework or got a zero on a test and you spank them,
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you're actually role modeling that when you're angry you hit.
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They're going to hit in conflict at school, maybe with their friends, with teachers as they grow up.
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So you're actually saying them, it's okay when you're angry this is what you do.
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Instead of if If you're angry with your child, count to 10.
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Go back and say, okay, because you did this, this is what will happen.
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All right.
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Most people do have an opinion on discipline spanking, and we're interested to hear what you have to say.
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Feel free to share your thoughts on the News Channel 8 Facebook page.
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And thank you, Dr. Schechner.
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Josh?
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “STUDY: Spanking your kids does more harm than good”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: spanking, spanked, parent, consequence, discipline. This video has 77 sentences and 849 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:00. The speaker talks fast, about 212 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 86% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| discipline noun | /ˈdɪsəplɪn/ | A controlled behaviour; self-control. |
| consequence noun | /ˈkɑn.sɪ.kwəns/ | An effect; something that follows a cause as a result. |
| brush noun | /bɹʌʃ/ | An implement consisting of multiple more or less flexible bristles or other filaments attached to a handle, used for any of various purposes including… |
| versus | /ˈvɝsəs/ | Against; in opposition to. |
| aggression noun | /əˈɡɹɛʃən/ | The act of initiating hostilities or invasion. |
| psychologist noun | /ˌsaɪˈkɑl.ə.d͡ʒɪst/ | An expert in the field of psychology. |
| beating noun | /ˈbiːtɪŋ/ | The action by which someone or something is beaten. |
| afterwards adverb | /ˈæf.tɚ.wɚdz/ | At a later or succeeding time; after that; |
| anger noun | /ˈæŋɡə/ | A strong and unpleasant feeling of displeasure, hostility, or antagonism, usually combined with an urge to yell, curse, damage or destroy things, or harm… |
| daddy noun | /ˈdædi/ | Also used as a term of address: a father; one's father. |
| aggressive adjective | /əˈɡɹɛs.ɪv/ | Characterized by aggression; highly combative; prone to behave in a way that involves attacking (especially if unjustly) or arguing. |
| substance noun | /ˈsʌbstəns/ | Physical matter; material. |
| depend verb | /dɪˈpɛnd/ | To be contingent or conditioned; to have something as a necessary condition |
| homework noun | /ˈhoʊmˌwɝk/ | Exercises assigned by a teacher to a student which review concepts studied in class. |
| nowadays adverb | /ˈnaʊ.ə.deɪz/ | At the present time; in the current era. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| turn out verb | To end up; to result. |
| come up verb | To emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly. |
| do out of verb | To use unfair means to deprive (someone) of (something). |
| go back verb | To return to a place or state after having been there at a previous time. |
| grow up verb | To mature and become an adult. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 22 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, don't, didn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: threaten /ˈθɹɛt.n̩/, truthfully /ˈtɹuːθ.fəl.i/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: brush /bɹʌʃ/, aggression /əˈɡɹɛʃən/, antisocial /ˌæntiˈsəʊʃəl/
- Long words — get the stress right: psychologist /ˌsaɪˈkɑl.ə.d͡ʒɪst/, millennial /mɪˈlɛn.ɪ.əl/, antisocial /ˌæntiˈsəʊʃəl/, electrocute /ɪˈlɛktɹəkjuːt/, scientifically /ˌsaɪ.ənˈtɪfɪkli/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like discipline, consequence, brush.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.