Hands up, how many of us were smacked as children?

[Brownwool]

Just doing my own survey here. For me it was just normal. A bloody good smacking certainly taught us what not to do. It was more about my parents being unable to control themselves. And now things have changed so much. I just wonder how many MNrs were routinely smacked?

I was, only when I was badly behaved and deserved it. It didn’t affect me, and I have a great relationship with my parents.

Yep, it's my first memory.

Yes, occasionally on the legs. As Hmmmbop, no great impact on me.
I haven’t ever actively made the decision I will not smack my DC, just never have and, as they are young adults now, never will. ( I did chase DS with a wire coat hanger when he was 15, but he was too fast to catch and he still teases me about it).
I’m not sure why I am ambivalent about the issue. Ambivalence is not my normal stance.

Yes, by both parents (I’m mid 50s). My Dad with hands and a belt. My Mum with whatever came to hand, hand brush, bamboo curtain rail, coal shovel or just her fists.
I did smack, not punch my DS until I realised I was continuing on the family tradition and from that day on never smacked him again.

Yes - both parents did it when they were still calm and in control so it was never hard, out of control or with an object. We were always warned in advance that if we continued with X, we would receive a smack. For me, the mere threat worked most times but my sister would always push the boundaries. We are both extremely close to both parents and I have no ill feelings towards this punishment. Far worse for me for being sent to my room or to sit on the bottom stair (I was terrified of the landing and convinced the house was haunted).

Yes, a few times. Twice by my dad, for doing something dangerous as a child, and the other time as a young teen when he had received some awful news and I was oblivious and obnoxious. No damage from it, and in fairness I did learn a lot from those two episodes. (Dont run into traffic, parents are only human too and have lives if their own)
My mum - a smack quite often. Not to hurt, more a sort of body language anti hug, if that makes sense?

They were loving parents, who gave me a great foundation and are still a solid rock of support 40 years later.

I have always felt worse about being sent to the naughty step, it felt like banishment. That was probably particular to our own family dynamics rather than something that can be generalised.
I have smacked my own children very rarely, but I have done it. I do not feel guilty. By contemporary standards I should, but the arguments have never rang true to me on an emotional level while the intellectual arguments sound like slippery slope thinking

Yes and sometimes I didn't understand why. I was threatened a lot too and saw my brother get hit a lot which are worse memories. My mum would hit me in front of family which was humiliating and it changed the way I act in public even to this day out of fear of humiliation again. The sad thing is we never talk about it but it affected my life by making me a very aggressive person even into my early 20s. I would never dream of doing that to my daughter, I believe it takes away innocence. You don't need to hit to make a point, you actually make it harder for the child to focus on what they did wrong and learn from it.

Mum smacked us on the legs or hand, not really hard, and not that often. Dad would give us the occasional smack across the head, not often. Most of my friends were smacked, and it was quite common to see children slapped in shops and the street. That was in the 1950s. Not a great time to be a child.

YUP, only by dad, huge to hit me on the forehead too. Occurred frequently and this was in the 90s / early 2000s.

My mum never knew, I was to scared to hell her.

My dad died when I was 13, still have mixed feelings over his death but I am grateful I didn't have to live the rest of my childhood in fear.

Yes, both parents. I don’t actually really remember it being so awful, and actually I remember a couple of quite funny things my sibling said to try to avoid it ‘No Mummy, I’ll smack myself!’, was one

However. My siblings and I have self esteem issues in one way or another. So who can tell if the physical punishment contributed to that or not..

Yes by my mum with her hand or her slipper, never by my dad. All my friends were smacked too, this was 70s/80s, I remember once threatening to smack my eldest child for misbehaving and my mum going mad at me saying don't you dare smack that child. I wouldn't have but would threaten it with my eldest.

I was. I was also beaten with a stiff backed long clothes brush and belted with a belt. It taught me that my father was a bully and my mother was weak. I cut them out of my life years ago.

I was slapped round the face a lot and hit with anything that was handy. I can't remember why. I forgave my father on his deathbed because I was was afraid I would regret it if I didn't. He hit my mum over the head with a massive 80s pepper grinder once. I don't know if she forgave him.

*Use to hit me(although they were huge hits...) and tell her

Mum hand and wooden spoon. What was worse she would complain about us to Dad that meant the belt which was awful and raised huge welts which would last for days. I never forgave her for letting him do that. I thought growing up that it happened in every home in the land.

No and I was born in the 70’s when smacking was still allowed in schools/homes.

Never.

I don't recall ever doing anything very dangerous or being particularly disrespectful etc.

We were quite studious kids and were spoilt in terms of time and affection from parents and grandparents.

Yes, occasionally. My brothers more often. Always by my mum, never my dad. I don’t feel as if we were abused, and don’t particularly resent my mum.

That said, I don’t hit my own children.

Just once. By DF. I remember it clearly, and I know it was just the once as I remember being so shocked by it. I don't remember either of my siblings being smacked. This was in the 70s/80s.

I would never smack my DC.

Late 20s! Once or twice a year till I was teen. It wasn’t used willy nilly just done when I was properly cheeky and crossed the line.
Always done by mum. I knew the line and took dad more seriously so whilst threatened by him never actually got to that point.

I was smacked, hit with a switch ( whippy stick), wooden spoon , hairbrush and potstick. I smacked my daughter until I realised that hitting wasn't doing either of us any good. Whether it harmed me, I don't know, I don't have a parallel with which to compare.

+1

Yes

Caned at school,..only the once

Had shoes thrown at me...but my mum was a rotten shot, or at least i think she was

Definitely smacked...the last time I remember being threatened with a slap on the face i was 14/15 and my mum realised how much bigger i was than her

I have smacked dd to my eternal shame, i have never smacked ds2 and if i have smacked ds1 it was once...and thats IF. I don’t think i have smacked him

And this is going to sound stupid especially after reading some of these posts but i never ever had any doubts that my parents loved me, my mum was the one who tended to hit and she had a rotten childhood. Just awful

Oops sorry

I’m 49

I was, both in heat of the moment situations (my mum) and the times when my behaviour had been reported to my dad (that was way, way worse, in a "come here, you're going to get a smack" kind of a way).