Calls for UK-wide ban on smacking children after Scottish move

 

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/oc...ned-in-scotland

Best news I've heard all week. The quicker this becomes law the better.

It absolutely should go, for fairly obvious reasons. Physical punishment to children has no place in today's world.

 

I think I was but VERY occasionally when I did something very out of line and it was back in the early 90s when it wasn't as frowned upon, my parents certainly regret it now!

I was smacked quite frequently as a child (as were all my siblings) and I don't think that's a bad thing. I don't think it should be a decision taken lightly and nor do I think it should be a common thing, but I think it definitely helped to build respect for my parents. As a last resort, then I think it should be fine if it's just a smack. Of course where the distinction between a smack and beating a child is drawn is a difficult thing to discern and becomes much more of a grey area.

My grandmother used to say to me "you're never too old for a clip round the ear!"

Habitual smacking is pointless and has no effect in the long run as the kids become immune to it, and it can build up fear and insecurity in more sensitive kids (like me).

 

In very extreme cases where the child is doing something very dangerous and pays no attention to careful explanations or punishments like being sent to bed or is just too bloodyminded and intent on pushing things to the dangerous extreme (yes some kids are totally like that) then an unexpected and rare slap on the hand can make a point better than repeating the same threats and explanations till you're both sick of hearing it.

Me and my siblings were smacked until we just shrugged off the prospect, and yet I do remember it hurting a bit sometimes. I was also whacked with spatulas which hurt a lot more and my dad was whacked by those nailed pieces of wood used to tie down carpets onto stairs which fortunately I was only ever threatened with.

 

Now my youngest sister, who's 5, doesn't really get smacked but she often gets locked in the cupboard and I'm not keen on that happening at all. :S

 

Edit: only revealing so much because my brother has/had some problems with anger and violence and I'm wondering recently where it came from (there I go, only revealing even more).

Edited October 19, 20177 yr by Harve

argh, i feel like the locking in a cupboard is worse than being smacked! :mellow:

 

i was smacked as a child and i've turned out fine... although saying that i doubt i could actually smack my own children

Since when was smacking your kids the norm, didn't have a clue that a majority parents actually did this :o...? Personally I think it's vile, no matter what your child has done that shouldn't warrant physically harming them.

 

It's absolutely necessary that this becomes the law, how can parents live with themselves in the knowledge they've caused pain to their child?

Best news I've heard all week. The quicker this becomes law the better.

 

It would be a difficult law to enforce though - authorities already have a lot of difficulty in identifying genuine child abuse, so how they would detect 'reasonable chastisement' i.e. smacking, that normally leaves little or no mark, I have no idea? :unsure:

 

There could be another issue too - that of false allegations. Some children can be right little brats, and might threaten to lie to the police that they've smacked, just to get their own way. It would be their word against their parents, and it seems likely that the child would be believed in most circumstances.

Since when was smacking your kids the norm, didn't have a clue that a majority parents actually did this :o...?

 

It's absolutely necessary that this becomes the law, how can parents live with themselves in the knowledge they've caused pain to their child?

 

I would say it was probably the norm 40 years ago, when I was growing up, although I have no idea what % of parents actually did it. Even those parents who didn't, would probably not have been surprised to see others doing it.

 

I was smacked occasionally as a child, though I cannot remember a single specific instance now.

 

As for pain being caused to a child - if they were persistently trying something that would cause them far more pain than a smack, saying pulling at hot pans on the cooker, or messing with electric sockets, and they refused to respond to other forms of discipline, then smacking could perhaps be justified as a last resort.

Since when was smacking your kids the norm, didn't have a clue that a majority parents actually did this :o...? Personally I think it's vile, no matter what your child has done that shouldn't warrant physically harming them.

 

It's absolutely necessary that this becomes the law, how can parents live with themselves in the knowledge they've caused pain to their child?

This is EXACTLY what I thought when I first heard this was actually a thing. I can't believe anyone could treat their kids in this way.

 

There could be another issue too - that of false allegations. Some children can be right little brats, and might threaten to lie to the police that they've smacked, just to get their own way. It would be their word against their parents, and it seems likely that the child would be believed in most circumstances.

Well even if the kids aren't geniune, surely that's an indication that the family isn't functioning properly? Either way, action would need to be taken.

How anyone, ESPECIALLY people who experienced this when they were younger can not support the banning of this disgusting act astounds me. (Although cupboard locking is just as bad and things like that need to be stopped as well ~) The idea of hitting a child is horrifying and I remember the fear the ran through me everytime I got hit as a child (my parents both full support the banning now btw).

Edited October 20, 20177 yr by My Reputation

Well even if the kids aren't geniune, surely that's an indication that the family isn't functioning properly? Either way, action would need to be taken.

 

Not necessarily - there are conditions like ADHD that aren't the fault of the parents.

 

 

How anyone, ESPECIALLY people who experienced this when they were younger can not support the banning of this disgusting act astounds me. (Although cupboard locking is just as bad and things like that need to be stopped as well ~) The idea of hitting a child is horrifying and I remember the fear the ran through me everytime I got hit as a child (my parents both full support the banning now btw).

 

ISTM that if smacking is hard/frequent enough to cause fear, then it could be defined as excessive.

ISTM that if smacking is hard/frequent enough to cause fear, then it could be defined as excessive.

I wasn't smacked frequently really- I just hated and loathed being hit which is a natural reaction for a child I would've though :mellow:

I wasn't smacked frequently really- I just hated and loathed being hit which is a natural reaction for a child I would've though :mellow:

 

Did it deter you from doing whatever you were being smacked for, in future though? :mellow: