I think your point of view on this point depends on how you are brought up now im not saying if you were smaked you will smak your children or vice versa, as a student of psycology how you viewd the punishment depends on how you feel about it now if you view the punishment as pain and hurtfull you will be against it but if you view it as a way to teach a child right from wron you might well view it as usefull. I also think Britain views smaking different to that of Americans because of our cultural differences. America as a whole have very strong oppinions on child laws Britain on the other hand was built on child labour during industrial revolutions and are not as strongly oppiniated as America on this issue. BUT WHO KNOWS I COULD BE TOTALY WRONG ON THIS POINT
Unless you want your child to be as stubborn as hell, go ahead and spank. Or smack. When i was a kid, i got both treatments harshly, and now i'm as stubborn as House.
I think smacking children is a great way to discipline them. But I think it should be only allowed for parents to do it. Not teachers/authority of the state/etc. I have seen many foreign films where teachers hitting pupils are a very common thing, and it is like what it is in real life, and they don't grow up to be mass murderers but law-abiding people. But now that we are a lot more sensitive than we were 50 years ago and now punishments are a lot lighter, it also shows a positive correalation in teenage rebellion/crime/stubborness along how the punishments have gotten lighter. This means that children DO not learn discipline or the authority must be respected and so on. So this just shows that punishments needs to be more severe, no need to wrap children up in cotton wool, or they'll end up in a worse situation where they cannot respect authority at all. blah blah... I agree for smacking children! Oh, yes! But not too severe though or the children will just end up hating you.
so, if we want to reduce violent crime amongst youths we should be violent with them as children? sorry but that seems very backwards to me. i guess i dont understand the rationality of telling a child 'its ok for me to hit you, but dont you dare hit anyone' thinking of myself personally, i have never been hit, never been yelled at, and never been one of those people that complains about hating their parents. and i think if my parents had yelled at me or hit me when i was bad as a form of discipline i wouldnt be as close with them as i am now, id probably hate them. if i expect that no one is ever going to hit me, im not going to hit anybody else. especially a child.
Kazzy i compeltely agree with you children dont need to be wrapped up in coton wool, even though i was smaked im not stuborn i have very good morals in me and i know right from wrong.
I've got 4 children.. and although many times I wanted too I was more of a "see this stick" (I kept it on the top of the frig.} it was a threat tactic.. and it always worked!!! do what I say or else.. but this was on rare occasions..never used it !! you hit kids, they grow up and hit other people..it is a form of abuse, and Dr. Phil says under NO circumstances ever hit a child!! for the same reason I fore mentioned
Well not to brag.. OK I'll brag.. they are extremly successful.. one works in a law firm. one is a county auditor , one is a radio DJ, and the baby is a Vice President for a hugh San Diego company. they do laugh to this day and said were were scared shi.... that you'd use that "stick" basically it was about taking out the friggin' trash on trash day.. they always put up a big stink.. so out came the stick and they did it!!! :lolronto!!! and gave me dirty look's the rest of the night--
I think in many cases you have to find the form of punishment that fits the childs individual personality. What works on one child may not work on another. For instance, my grandson doesn't listen to his parents at all. You can see his eyes glaze over and he just tunes out. In turn they just keep yelling at him and yelling at him. Their words don't work. He's now 15. When he was about four, I gave him one smack. It was on the bottom and it wasn't hard. Now, when Gramma says do something, he does. He knows that I mean what I say. With my granddaughter, its a different story. I've found that telling her she can't do things that she wants, works effectively. Each child is different so the punishment must match the child.
I dont think its fair to say that kids who get smaked will grow up to hit people atol i was hit but i have no urge to hit anyone just because my mum and dad did good pearanting. Something else has gone wrong in the growing up stage if the child is violent you cant just blame it on smacking!!!
Well in a way, i'm for it, than again i'm not. i'm growing up in a nonviolent household. though i personally think sometimes my sister deserves a slap across the face, i do too. i believe in showing the kids a little bit of "Tough love" but nothing like leaving marks, if you can control your own strength than you can hit your kids. if not than no. i believe in it to some extent, my opinions are VERY difficult to explain.
I don't believe any child should be slapped on the face. Your timing on this was perfect, I had been thinking about this while we were at dinner and I meant to mention it. If a smack/spanking is to occur it should be on the bottom. Across the face, arms, and/or legs is WAY too violent. There isn't enough padding (fat) on those extremities to protect the child. The strength of the smack/spank must be taken into account to. You can't place a full blown slam on the child. It must just be hard enough for them to feel it. Again, no red marks or welts.
My mum used to slap us on the back of the calfs because she knew it would sting more she didnt have to hit as hard for the same affect.
Kids these days need to be smacked. Ever see an 8 year old these days? Act like they own the place. And they cuss worse than my Grandma. Augh. It's like, since there's no such thing as disipline because parents are like "We've tried nothing and we're all out of ideas!" and throw their kids in therapy, kids act like they can do whatever they want. A wooden spoon across the bum is the perfect remedy.
Me and my sister were smacked by our mum and we knew that we'd crossed a line and we wouldn't do it again. So I think it's ok, but like most things it can go too far. I think sometimes it can be a form of abuse rather than just punishment. I don't think it should get to the point where a child is afraid of their parent. I was never afraid of my mum but I knew not to misbehave. It is hard because it's a fine line between punishment and abuse. I'm not sure what I'd do if I had kids. I think I'll have to wait and see on that one.