Should we smack our children

[Super Nova]

I see our PM is in the middle of this issue.

Before I had my daughter I was pro giving the kid a smack as that was the way my wife and I were dragged up. I saw nothing wrong with it. However my wife did research on it and we have managed to never smack our daughter in the whole 6 years.

So now I am not convinced.. .as we have proven... that it is necessary.

I also notice children now who clearly their parents smack them because you can see them being hand shy in public even though the parents are refraining from smacking them in public.

I think parents need to do what they think is right. There is no right answer. No one size fits all. The PC lobbyists should get a smack for interfering and leave it to parents to decide. Being a parent is difficult enough. There are situations where corporal punishment is a realistic option if other methods do not work.

I certainly remember a good smack around the ears sorted me out a few times.

Australian PM Tony Abbott admits to smacking his children

Mr Abbott warns political correctness can go too far and says there is nothing wrong with gentle smacks

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has admitted he smacked his children when they were young and warned against bans that could take political correctness "to extremes".

Mr Abbott was commenting after the issue was raised in the first report submitted to parliament by the newly established National Children's Commissioner.

It highlights the United Nations' concern "that corporal punishment in the home and in some schools and alternative care settings remains lawful in Australia".

The UN Committee of the Rights of the Child document recommends "that corporal punishment be explicitly prohibited", but Mr Abbott said "a gentle smack" was fine.

"We often see political correctness taken to extremes and maybe this is another example," the conservative leader, who has three grown-up daughters, told Channel Seven television.

"I was probably one of those guilty parents who did occasionally chastise the children, a very gentle smack I've got to say. "I think that we've got to treat our kids well, but I don't think we ought to say there's no place ever for smacks.

"All parents know that occasionally the best thing we can give is a smack, but it should never be something that hurts them."

Corporal punishment of children is banned in more than 30 countries around the world, including Germany, New Zealand and Spain

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... ldren.html

[IQS.RLOW]

Dear UN

Get the fuck out of our lives

Signed
Everyone.

[Rorschach]

Spare the Rod and Spoil the Child... seems pretty realistic to me.
I don't support abuse, but I do support a modicum of discipline, to help children learn and create and maintain a better society.
Wonder if they ever tried reasoning with a 2 or 5 year old....
Don't touch that?
Then they touch it anyway...
Don't touch that?
Why?
Because.
Then they touch it anyway, before you get out because it will burn you and be excruciatingly painful... or they touch it just to check...
Etc, etc, etc... better a smack than; electrocution or scalding, or... or... or...

[The Uncanny Hengeman]

Bloody oath.

But if you're still smacking them after the age 5 - 6 region then you're a failure parent – because, erm dude, your kid is 6 and they still haven't learnt the basics of right and wrong? Plus, with all the neighbourhood knocks and schoolyard spills that are part of growing up, kids just generally become tougher.... and they begin to scoff at your feeble attempts at corporal punishment.

[Super Nova]

...... kids just generally become tougher.... and they begin to scoff at your feeble attempts at corporal punishment.

True. I remember at school when given a choice I took the cane (2 to 6 of the best) instead of detention, writing lines or anything else. Do it and get it over with.

My old man dished out a slap and I mean a bloody hard one and we just took it but it never helped except to create fear in the family.

I personally, Iwill not slap my child and it has been hard work to learn how to overcome the urge in the early days as you refer to what you learned from your parents as role models (good or bad) because you know no different. Parenting isn't taught. I do think I reserve the right to issue a slap if her life was in danger... as an example (as RS said). A right I have not had to use ..... yet.

[AiA in Atlanta]

Bloody oath.

But if you're still smacking them after the age 5 - 6 region then you're a failure parent – because, erm dude, your kid is 6 and they still haven't learnt the basics of right and wrong? Plus, with all the neighbourhood knocks and schoolyard spills that are part of growing up, kids just generally become tougher.... and they begin to scoff at your feeble attempts at corporal punishment.

If Mandela could handle barbed wire why not a child? It will make him a hero too.

[Rorschach]

Look, I copped quite a few beatings in my life and not all well deserved.
But if I didn't respect my Dad I'd have hit him back... when he was spitting in my face or throwing me into doors or... well you get the picture.
I still love my dad, he may not be perfect, but he did his best and was a good provider.
And I'm the sanest person I know.... so UN and PC Brigade.
Sometimes life deals us bad moments but we learn how to overcome, rise above and forgive.
That's part of life.

[Neferti]

I rarely got smacked as a child ... not because my Mother didn't use a stap (hair brush, jug cord, etc), but because I was the eldest and a "good girl". My sisters got strapped though. Dad never touched any of us, it was Mum who dolled out the discipline.

I never needed to slap my daughter either. She wasn't prone to tantrums or naughtiness. One look, a raised eyebrow and perhaps a stern word did the trick. Although when she got a little older (around 10) she got extremely cheeky one morning so I gave her a whack on the thigh with my hand as we were rushing off to work/school. Apparently left a red mark on her leg and she "told the teacher". She reported it to me when I got home from work and I asked "what did the teacher say?" and she said "the teacher asked what I got slapped for and I told her I was cheeky and so the teacher said ... serves you right". These days if you look sideways at your 2 year old throwing a tantrum at the Mall, somebody will report you and you are on CCTV and will be taken to Court for "child abuse". What nonsense.

There is no real need to smack kids, really. Little ones can be taught not to touch the hot stove by a gentle slap on the hand and a stern NO! Two-year old temper tantrums are purely for effect ... just walk away for a bit and the kid will realise nobody (Mum) is taking any notice and ... it is pointless slapping older children. If they don't know who is "in charge" and how to behave by early teens, you have lost the plot and it is too late to start disciplining their behaviour.

[Black Orchid]

My kids never chucked tantrums and, quite frankly, I find tantrums appalling. Mine were both gentle kids and a stern no would usually suffice but I don't see anything wrong with a gentle smack if it is deemed necessary. It doesn't hurt and shocks the child more than anything.

A lot of the kids I see around now I think are pretty badly behaved. Running around like ferals in supermarkets and shopping centres whilst their parents chat or ignore them. Ignoring bad behaviour because you don't want to discipline doesn't make the bad behaviour go away nor does it do anything to help your child learn acceptable social skills.

[mantra]

I didn't smack my children for the simple reason I couldn't bear to physically hurt them, tempting as it was at times. Hitting children is usually a result of your own anger.

My kids never chucked tantrums and, quite frankly, I find tantrums appalling.

What was your secret? Sedation?