Should parents smack there children?

Answer 1

Tricky one. As a teacher, I would say that if you need to smack your child then you have lost control and don't know enough strategies for dealing with him or her in another way - but then how do people, since nobody teaches you how to be a parent?!

I was smacked myself, and it isn't something I will do to my own children. Violence is no way to control your child, and what does it teach them for the future, and about human interaction?

Answer 2

My sister and I were smacked as children and it never did us any harm. Smacking was always a last resort and we knew that if we were really naughty then we'd get a smack, so it hardly ever happened. I can only actually every remember it happening twice in my whole childhood and I know that I deserved it both times!

To the people who say this is child abuse - Smacking is NOT the same as beating a child. A quick smack on the hand or bum does NOT harm anyone. Beating a child on the other hand is completely wrong - to inflict bodily harm on a child is pure evil. Yes I agree that Supernanny and her naughty step has done a lot for helping parents with disciplining their kids, but trust me, there are occasions when even the naught step doesn't work, and you need that absolute last resort. It's not a case of making your kids terrified of you, that would be terrible - but they do need to know that when mum or dad say NO, they mean no for a good reason, and if they are deliberately naughty, and I mean really naughty, then a short smack often does the trick.

Answer 3

Depends on what you classify as a smack. If you are talking hard enough to leave marks then no. Sometimes super nanny's ideas are good in theory, but can be not practical with some children.
As someone who works in a primary school i can see that some children would not behave the way they did if they had been punished when young.
I have a 7 mth old child and i have had to tap his hands when he has reached out for a hot cup or when he has had a complete tantrum for not getting his own way, but i have not hurt him - the shock has brought his attention back to me.
It should be remembered that a smack is different to beating the hell out of a child. Parent classes would help thoses who thought that they would be likely to lose their tempers with their children, and also children having children should be discouraged.

Answer 4

No. The only reason any parent smacks a child is because of the lack of intellect of that parent. At the point of resorting to violence however minor it means the parent has lost all thought control of how to deal with a given situation logically. If you applied this as adults to other adults fights in the workplace would be normal. Clearly many people say it never did me any harm, well actually it did. It taught you that violence is acceptable if you applied the same logic to a battered woman when she said I deserved it right minded people would think that flawed logic. The argument is the same only the scale different. Let me be clear what I define as violence is a physical act of aggression performed on another human being knowing you are bigger and stronger and therefore likely to win without being harmed yourself. I am a big boxing fan and believe that is OK as it is between consenting adults who have both prepared themselves. I am not a pacifist just a sensible parent.

Answer 5

Depends on the situation, really.

A gentle smack to the hand when the child is too young to understand "no" when they are trying to pull the fire guard away from the fire seems reasonable to me.
A smack for a child throwing a tantrum you make them eat their vegetables, possibly.

A beating because they left their toys strewn across the front room, before guests arrive, No.

There must be some way to make it clear that there is a limit to the amount of bad behaviour you are prepared to tolerate. Smacking is one possible option, but a smack should be the last resort, only given after repeated warnings. And it should be clear although you love them, there are lines they cannot cross without punishment.

The most important thing for a child to know is that their parents love them and care for them, my parents rarely smacked me, but those few smacks, more painful than injurious, I remember as the absolute limits.

But more importantly I remember that my parents working as a unified team spent more time helping me through my entire troubled childhood than any of the indifferent "experts", who misdiagnosed or ignored my Asperger's Syndrome, and raised me and my "normal" little brothers to be intelligent helpful, considerate and well-balanced adults.

Answer 6

look i grew up in u could say an abusive home i mean my dad had to stop my mother from hitting me cos i was bleeding in the face...... well actually ever time i got a hidding i was black and blue from the back of my neck right down to my ankles....... now most of us would really say it was my fault but is not doing school homework really worthe a beating??????? i don't disagree on giving a child a smack but only if it is really neccessary and only on the bum; buttocks (which ever u prefer) but then after that love ur child and then explain to them y they got a smack and try to teach them from the experience..... now days children have no respect for older people because they do not respect themselves and these other forms of punishment like no TV or computer or what ever u like to use doesn't really work cos children aren't stupid and they wil find a way to manipulate u to giving what they want

Answer 7

No.
All to often children are thought the word no from an early age,
but as the child is growing and getting into mischief the word no becomes a joke.
Ie. the child is messing with the on off switch on the TV and is told no the child returns and is told no again with a giggle, now the word no has become the start of a game. No should be No full stop.

Answer 8

It depends on the situation and the child. However, There are circumstances where a smack is better than `chat'. In our family the children have a tendancy to be hyper active and an occasional smack in difficult circumstances does the job for both child and parent.

Answer 9

the only time i have smacked my daughter is
1 = because she kept climbing out of her car seat whilst i was driving so i needed her to know it is dangerous
2= she ran out into the road!

i av only smacked her twice as she would not listen and the things she did were very dangours! i don't smack her any other time i use the naughty step! i don't think smacking children works it just makes them think its OK to smack!
i dont think the is anything wrong with a child getting a small smack now and again aslong as it IS NOT beating them like some horrible parents do

Answer 10

Children occasionally require corrective punishment, in order for them to be prepared for the fact that when they grow up and enter the adult world there will be consequences if they break the laws of society. Parents should have a range of measures at their disposal, and these measures need to be appropriate to what the child is capable of understanding at their present age.

Light physical punishment may in certain circumstances be an appropriate measure. I have seen instances of parents who shut their children in a 'naughty room' in order to avoid smacking them, because they are made to feel guilty about smacking. Let me tell those parents something. I remember being shut away in a cupboard when I was young as a punishment. That was FAR WORSE than any smacking I ever received. Isolation is a much crueler form of punishment than a light smack.

A child should be made aware that there are clear lines drawn beyond which punisment of varying degrees is to be expected, and those lines should be enforced consistently. Physical punishment should only be used as a 'final resort', after fair warning has been given, and should not be delivered as an anger response. An explanation should always be given for any punishment that a child receives. Come down to their level and make eye contact with them, and insist that they make eye contact with you. Speak to them like an adult. Explain that you are sorry that you have to punish them, but their behaviour leaves you no other choice. Also make sure that they understand that they must not take this as an indication that it is acceptable for THEM to mete out physical punishment to others - tell them that they are not yet old enough to make the judgement of who deserves it.

I was smacked when I was younger, and it hasn't turned me into a monster. I have two degrees and a good job, a home and family, I have never been criminally prosecuted, and I dream of a day when the world will be a united and peaceful one.

The problem with the whole 'smacking is evil and harmful' crowd is that they have grown too soft and prissy about physical contact, such that they consider a smack on the palm of the hand as a 'violent act'. This is not far removed from the kind of thinking that says you can sue someone for assault because they gave you a little shove.

When society gets this soft it loses control of its boisterous youth and you end up with an epidemic of delinquency, gang violence and knife culture. YES some of this is down to parental violence - kids who get beaten up by their parents can grow up to become violent themselves. They'll be the alpha males/females of the gangs. The other gang members that think they're cool and try to emulate them will be the kids from the other end of the spectrum - the ones who received inadequate discipline.

As a final note, I'll mention that my own child hasn't been subjected to any form of punishment by me for a long while now, physical or otherwise. That's because I don't need to anymore - not because she regards me as a terrifying ogre, but because she knows where the lines are drawn.