Parents who punish their children physically are sentencing them to a lifetime of under-achievement‚ the newspaper reported.

That’s according to a study of about 5000 children in Cape Town that found children who are beaten by their parents do badly at school‚ often drop out and ultimately get lower-paying jobs.

The findings are particularly alarming in light of the high levels of child abuse in South Africa.

A report released by the Children’s Institute at UCT last year said that more than half of South African children frequently experience some form of violence from a very early age.