The British government is going to distribute a family survey to see if parents support a total ban on smacking children.
The law was changed a couple of years ago so that if you smack your child hard enough to leave a mark you are guilty of assault and can be banged up for it.
Of course children need protecting for child abuse but then the law already covers assault, it’s been a crime in English common law for centuries. So do we actually need a specific law aimed at parents smacking their children? Personally I don’t think we do. Children are already protected by the same laws against assault as adults, it is how social services and other agencies work that needs to be changed.
The British government doesn’t particularly want to change the law to bring in a total ban on smacking children but it did say that it would ask parents when it changed the law previously and for some reason has chosen to keep a promise. The NSPCC is calling for a total ban on smacking children and the four “children’s commissioners” – I have no idea who they are or what they do – have also called for a total ban saying that “fear and intimidation can never be a positive part of childhood”.
I smack my children if it is necessary. I don’t do it very often – in fact, we were talking about it today as a family and my eldest (9 years old) said he couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a smack but it was definitely more than a year ago. Sometimes a smack is needed to instill discipline in kids. When shouting, reasoning and other punishments don’t work what’s the alternative? I’ve seen plenty of kids whose parents refuse to discipline them and they’re all, without exception, little shits. What hope is there for these kids as they grow into adults? It’s not a huge leap from ASBO to mugging old ladies.
Anyway, that’s my opinion – what’s yours? Should parents be allowed to smack their children?
Yes. But there is a secret to smacking – only as much as is necessary to get the child’s attention, getting them out of whatever they are sitting in.
I remember once smacking my 3 yr old daughter’s hand as literally a tap, because she had defied me 3 times. She even volunteered her hand, and when I ever so lightly touched it she crumbled into my arms saying “Sorry Daddy”. IF I had used more force, I do not think my objective would have been achieved.
Do we smack to achieve correction, or to vent our own feelings. If the latter, then we will fail, because a child understands proportionality or fairness instinctively.
IMO.
And the state wants to come between me and my hotly loved children – as if IT can do a better job, judging by the outcomes of children in care v. children raised by parent/s ? Ha !
Alan Douglas