President Trump's criticism of news coverage regarding the Iran war and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin's views on spanking children spark controversy. Mullin's comments contrast with expert-approved parenting practices, highlighting potential negative impacts of corporal punishment on child development and well-being. This article also references Trump's actions and calls for supporting journalism.
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The former MMA fighter and father of six previously met with City Elders, a Christian political activist group, back in October 2023 and shared a few stories and comments that made clear where he stood on the idea of using corporal punishment on kids.He also recounted stories of times he’d hit his kids: “You can’t imagine how loving they are. ... I can spank them and I’m still upset and they’ll come and crawl on my lap two minutes later and just hug on me,” Mullin said.He later recalled when one daughter was begging him not to punish her this way: “No, Daddy. No, Daddy. No, Daddy! No! I’m sorry, Daddy. I’m sorry, Dad” when “she just couldn’t bring herself to even bend over for to bust her butt.”The Trump administration's new Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin recently got attention for his comments on disciplining his kids — and they don't align with most expert-approved practices. These kinds of stories aren’t uncommon if you’re familiar with prominent conservative parenting circles. Yet, if you’re familiar with any of the science around child development, they can feel pretty disturbing.and what hitting kids actually does to them is pretty cut and dry : It’s bad for kids, ineffective for actually curbing unwanted behavior and offers both long and short-term harm for both the children and parents exposed to it. “What we know from decades of research is actually very consistent. Spanking may stop a behavior in the moment, but over time it is linked to increased aggression, more defiance, higher rates of anxiety and depression, and a weaker parent-child relationship,”, founder and clinical psychologist at Empowering Minds Consulting, told HuffPost. “It does not teach the skills we want kids to develop, like emotional regulation, communication or problem solving. Instead, it teaches that when you are frustrated or in control, you can use physical force.”that firmly warned parents of the harms of this kind of punishment, and the importance of breaking the cycles that keep this practice going in families long after it’s been acknowledged as harmful.“There is now overwhelming scientific evidence that corporal punishment carries multiple risks to the health of children,” Etienne Krug, director of the WHO Department for Health Determinants, Promotion and Prevention, said in a 2025 report on corporal punishment published by the. “It offers no benefits to the behavior, development or well-being of children and no benefit to parents or societies either. It’s time to end this harmful practice to ensure that children thrive at home and at school.”, an international family psychotherapist, founder and clinical director of The Wave Clinic, also explained how the current research firmly demonstrates the negative impacts of hitting kids. “Smacking young children can impact their mental health as they journey through their childhood and teen years,” Yassin said. “In fact, research has shown that children who have adverse experiences, such as being smacked, at the age of three are more likely to suffer from poor mental health and behavioral problems.”to “severe maltreatment and increases the perception of threat” — meaning that kids’ brains are not differentiating these punishment smacks from other forms of abuse, and it takes a toll on their brains.Yet, there’s also a sense that these parents are literally just bragging about hitting their kids. If you’re a parent, caregiver or just someone who likes children in the big year of 2026, it can feel weird to hear someone being so cavalier — let alone proud — of a moment where they were dysregulated enough to hurt a child.For experts like Scher Lisa, this is a piece of the larger conversation that “often gets overlooked” — why parents feel “comfortable, and even proud, talking about spanking.” “In my clinical work, this is usually not about a lack of care for their child. It is often about normalization. Many of these parents were raised with physical punishment themselves, so it feels familiar and effective,” Scher Lisa continued. “Over time, it becomes part of their identity as a parent. In certain environments, it can also signal being firm, in control, or ‘doing it right,’ which reinforces the behavior socially.”points out is that these instances of bragging about hitting your children are considered a “badge of honor” for parents who want to signal something to other parents: “They want it known that they don’t subscribe toBut it’s also often because these ill-advised techniques are what their own parents used on them — and have been so thoroughly normalized to them. We see a textbook example of this, again, in Mullin’s comments, where he discussed his own upbringing and experiences being raised “by the fear of a belt.” Talking about his own father, Mullin seems impressed by the speed at which his own father was ready and willing to hit him as a kid, noting he felt he “deserved” it: “I’ve never seen a man that can take the belt off so fast, double it up and still hit you. I don’t know how in the world he done that. I tried it and I just can’t.”It’s certainly helpful to the kids, their future kids and the people they interact with throughout their lives to avoid passing on the belief that physically hurting someone is the best way to change a behavior — especially a small person who is new here. “The most important message I would want parents to hear is that kids learn by watching us,” Scher Lisa said. “If we want them to manage frustration, use words, and regulate their behavior, we have to model that for them.”This also involves doing enough reflecting to decide that the cycle needs to end with them nad make those changes intentionally. “For many parents, especially those who were raised with spanking, this means intentionally doing something different than what feels automatic,” Scher Lisa continued. “That is not easy, but it is absolutely possible and it makes a meaningful difference in how kids grow and relate to others.”After I Cut Off Contact With My Mother, She Texted My Child 7 Words — And It Forced Me To Confront Some Hard TruthsBy entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. 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