putting soap in children mouth????

Question

I heard/read some people reffering to this a legal punishment?? I am very shocked and I just think this is abuse. there is plenty of other way of dealing with children, leading by example, time out, taking toys away...

Can you guys tell me your opinions on this, I am just being curious to what people think?

I read it on yahoo answer, a lady was asking how to make her boy stop swearing and two or three people told her to do that, it sound so abusives to me, If someone did that to my kids I would kill them.

and I do have to kids they are five and very well behaved they do as they told, or there toys will be taken away, they try to push the boundaries time to time but I would never put anything in there mouth or lift a hand on them.

We are not soft parents, believe me! We just don't believe in bullying or using violence on our children, My children knows to respect others and they know the difference between bad and wrong, they never swear and never hit each other or talk back to me or there dad,

As for myself, my parents never did have to put soap in my mouth, and I never swear, my sibblings never swear either.

Wally Y, I am French so I am sorry that I can't I cannot form a simple sentence or speak English with any reasonable dexterity, Luckily my children can, they didn't inherit my awful accent.

To caitlin, no actually I don't think spanking is wrong but thankfully I never had to use it on my children, but they were to undermine my authority or my husband maybe I would, only if anything else fails.

sw-1034 You made me laugh I hope you get lots of thumb up, but you didn't say what you think about it.

Faceless: the reason why I never smack my children it's because when my niece was two/three years old, she drew in the kitchen wall, My sister ask her who did it and she said "auntie" so my sister told her that lying was wrong and so was writing on the wall, so that she will have to go in the corner for three minutes, out of frustration Maya went to smack her mum's cat, so my sister spank her and told her that was unacceptable, my niece then said "well you smacking me"
also I have twins, they tried time to time to smack each others it will be no good me telling them that violence is unacceptable if I smack them myself, I believed that violence breed violence and my husband and me are doing our best to lead by example, there is no swearing, no shooting, no smacking, no alcohol or cigarettes in our household.

Answer 1

Forcing a substance such as soap into ANYONE'S mouth would amount to assault in my opinion, and should be treated as such by the authorities!

I've never had to hit my child in any form (be it a gentle tap, smack, etc). He has a good understanding of right and wrong. He is extremely polite. My parents brought me up the same, and I have never been in serious trouble.

EDIT!: Whoever gave me a thumbs down, I suppose you think it is alright for a police officer to force soap down your mouth if you swore in public? You wouldn't think of having them charged for assault then?
EDIT!: Blue Moon, having worked with young offenders the ones that are violent are the ones that have no boundaries set, and only see a fist as a form of punishment! Violence breeds violence!

Answer 2

Yes in this day and age it is abuse. When I was a kid you didnt need to swear at your parents to be told you would have your mouth washed out with soap back chat would have done it, it was said to me on a few occasions but never done! You are a very lucky lady if you have never had to smack your child, not even on the back of the had as its moving close to the "hot" item that it is about to grab?! We used to get a smack on the back of the legs if we were naughty!

Answer 3

about 55 years ago, I remember my brother getting caught drinking shampoo. He told mum he'd been swearing really rude words and knew what the punishment would be so he did it by himself!! Now, I must point out it was only ever said as a threat - never administered - no need if you knew about the soap punishment!!.It didn't make him sick but it gave him the 'runs' for a couple of days!! I've never heard him swear anything stronger than 'blimmin or flippin'
As we lived in 'rooms' there was nowhere to have'time-out' or no toys to take away. We all learned RESPECT though and the other' 3Rs'

Answer 4

It works and it works well, doesn't do the child any harm apart from leave them with a digusting taste in their mouth that they will be sure to remember. Besides, kids put all sorts of digusting things in their mouths and have some pretty awful habbits like, picking their nose for one. This is clean and will help them to learn. I had it done to me once and trust me I learnt every quickly not to do it again.

Sometimes other things don't work, children adapt very quickly to punishments, taking toys away they learn to play with other things are to do without. You get the wrong child and they will break their toys to spite you... this leaves you in a very difficult predicament. Time out never really works as the child, just like us can sit there brood, my experience of this one is that they actually forget what is was they were sent to the corner for as many children are not good for long term memory. Leave them with a foul taste in their mouth for a bit they remember it. It's not nice but then it isn't suppose to be it is a punishment.
It is better than smacking or hitting children, the government is interferring far too much in parenting, before long we wont be able to do a dam thing to keep our children safe and will have the next generation growing up with no morals and young holagans.

Answer 5

This method has worked for years! A child swears or mouths off, the parent tells them to lick a bar of soap. You don't pump liquid soap in, or shove it down their throats. Taking toys away is alright for some things, but not others. I bet you think spanking is wrong too! This is not child abuse!

Answer 6

In my opinion, and that is what this is, my opinion. The reason you find this so offensive and abusive is that your Mother didn't use this method on you. Now you cannot form a simple sentence or speak English with any reasonable dexterity. If you swore as a kid a bar of ivory soap was shoved into your mouth and left there for you to contemplate your errors. When you agreed, by nodding your head you wouldn't use that language again the soap was removed and you were allowed to rinse your mouth out. That was the way it was and for most people it worked. In my opinion.

Answer 7

When I was in primary school back in 1973 ish, I had my mouth washed out with carbolic soap for swearing at a teacher. I never swore at another teacher during the rest of my school life, and have never sworn at my parents. I think it was a good move in those days. I have respect for my elders and would hope that the youth of today would have the same respect!! Jings, I didn't die, only suffered the humiliation!!

Answer 8

Soap in the mouth isn't illegal, but it is dangerous. It can make you very ill, and some soaps can break down the fatty acids in the tongue, and destroy taste buds. A suitable substitute for soap is vinegar, it tastes awful, but a teaspoon of it never hurt anyone. It can make a fine punishment when a child can't stop saying unacceptable words or lieing.

Answer 9

This is soooo wrong, i could never do that to a child, they have a right not to be abused like that! I have heard of people doing that and it's disgusting! Yet the parents swear too!! Just shove the soap in these parent's mouths and see how they like it!!

Answer 10

It's the traditional punishment for bad-mouthed kids in the UK!
It was done to me as a kid and it tastes horrible! It's also very effective!! You don't actually make them eat it ?!! You soft parents are the ones breeding ASBO fodder!
No-one is saying to beat or hit a child!
The flat of your hand on the bum is perfectly acceptable! Don't use it often, it's kind of ultimate deterrent!
The ruination of society was when corporal-punishment was taken away! There's a general lack of respect now, certainly in the UK.
EDIT; Do you soft parents realise that when some poor guy tells YOUR teenagers off for swearing or vandalising, he is liable to get beaten-up or killed by YOUR little darlings!!
This is a regular occurrence in the UK

Answer 11

Its a very cruel thing to do to another human being. All it does is instill fear, not respect. How do we respect someone who abuses us?
But this reminds me of my son when he was little and having his nappy changed. I gave him a bottle of shampoo to play with. Somehow he got the lid open and swallowed some of the shampoo. Every time he opened his mouth to gurgle a huge bubble came out of it instead.
I know, after five kids, how hard, frustrating and infuriating they can be, but i would never resort to fear as a punishment.
Get them where they live. Take away privelages. Its the only way to to do things.