Parents smacking and slapping children should become illegal in England

[JC544D]

Today Wales has joined more than 60 nations in outlawing physical punishment of children. The new law means people will be committing a crime if they smack, hit, slap or shake a child in their care.

We don’t allow adults to be hit by another person, nor do we allow adults to hit animals.

I think it's more than time England followed suit in outlawing the physical punishment of children by their parents.

What is your view?

@Catalinka

I can see that people who have smacked their own children have got a vested interest in it not being made illegal. Then they have to face the fact that something they did was wrong enough to have been outlawed. Their kids will know this too. Really though, we need to do what's right and it's only a matter of time before it becomes illegal as it is in more than 60 countries now.

I have smacked DD 3 times. Only once was actually necessary. She was in my arms,she bit my lip and wouldn't let go until I smacked her on the leg,she gasped and I could pull her away. It would've been awkward and uncomfortable as fuck to have a discussion about it and explain it, but I doubt anyone would've taken it further. I agree with it being made illegal for two reasons. It never really works in the way parents think it does, and it's too easy to fall into a pattern of behaviour where smacking becomes the go to solution that is easily justified(parent was stressed,scared ,frustrated, what the child did was unacceptable,dangerous etc).

Absolutely agree. Only my father smacked, and it absolutely terrified me. He didn't do it very often but it made me wary of him, I never felt quite relaxed with him. It was more the sight of someone so much bigger and out of control with anger that made it frightening, more so than the actual pain. He also used to shake us, which hurt less but was even more terrifying. He used to be a heavy drinker and that sometimes meant that he'd misinterpret things we did or said as rudeness or naughtiness when we were really just being children.

My mother wasn't so much a smacker, she would occasionally reach into the back seat and swat around at our legs if we were arguing while she was trying to drive. But it never hurt us and we weren't scared of her like we were our dad.

The problem with smacking being legal is that it creates a grey area where child abuse becomes harder to identify. If it's legal but there are caveats (not too hard, don't leave a mark) then it creates doubt as to what constitutes 'acceptable' hitting and what is something that needs flagging. I'd characterise what I experienced as a child as abuse. But because the word used was smacking, I doubt anyone would have thought anything of it if I'd said anything, because parents are 'allowed' to smack.

Oh. I thought it was illegal. It bloody well should be.

No wonder people think it's okay. Ffs. Ridiculous that it would be legal for adults to hit children but we can't hit each other?

The point of smacking is to make the child afraid of the smack so they won’t do the bad/dangerous behaviour

If it works so well, why does it need ti be repeated?

And also, why in the blue fuck would I want my DC to be afraid of me and what I might do them!? That's a horrible way for them to live and a horrible dynamic for our relationship to have, DC whonare afraid of what their parents will do won't them confide in those same parents when they're in difficulty and need help. If my DC are in a shitty situation I don't want them to try and hide it because they're worried that if they tell me then I'll hit them (and all the humiliation and degradation that goes with it). I want them to know that I might be angry or disappointed but I won't hurt them.

Blows my mind that people actively campaign for the right to hit children.

You have one job as a parent, to keep your child safe. With every smack/shove/flick, you destroy that.

@lizdoingthecancan just seen your comment re Lee Anderson. Very close, his lovely neighbour Mr Bradley

The point of smacking is to make the child afraid of the smack so they won’t do the bad/dangerous behaviour

So instead of learning WHY they did something wrong, teaching them a valuable life lesson, they learn to be afraid of getting a smack rather than afraid of being hit by a car. Yeah makes total sense. Not.

Children should not be slapped or smacked for any reason. Period.

As a child my mum smacked me, she was quite awful and used wooden/metal spoon!! She had quite a temper I think she’s forgotten but it clearly worked that’s why it happened a lot…….

My dad then attacked me several times he was a nasty evil man, the pair of them are honestly vicious and should never have had kids.

So no, you shouldn’t need to raise your hand to anyone - child, adult, animal to ‘discipline’ them in any way. I’ve never smacked any of my 4 and never will, however they do sometimes drive me to distraction and push my buttons but you do need to learn how to parent effectively so your kids listen and understand why you want them to do (or not do) certain things. And have effective & measurable punishments for behaviour that falls short. It can be exhausting and youngest has sen so I have to adjust expectations and discipline to the child but fairness and consistency is very important. I would not want my kids to be in fear of me, nor would I want to cause them physical pain

I always wonder, if I was someone who hit my kids and my grown up DD came home one day to tell me her DH had hit her, what leg would I have to stand on?

Anyone who claims they were not damaged by smacking has very clearly been damaged. For starters they have are demonstrating a lack of ability for critical thought. Also empathy and intelligence. Very sad.

Sadly there's absolutely no mention of stopping it from the current government.

I'm totally against smacking but am always astounded that so many people are still in favour. My friend is a primary teacher and has always smacked her son. He's now 9 and she smacked him once in our garden when they visited. Poor lad was mortified and so were we!

Anyone who claims they were not damaged by smacking has very clearly been damaged

So, anyone as a child who was smacked, in your opinion is damaged and if they disagree you would say their whole character is a write off?? I think you may need to question your own critical thinking, empathy and intelligence.

@Sometimeswinning

Anyone who claims they were not damaged by smacking has very clearly been damaged

So, anyone as a child who was smacked, in your opinion is damaged and if they disagree you would say their whole character is a write off?? I think you may need to question your own critical thinking, empathy and intelligence.

Well if they use it as an excuse/justification for hitting children then they’ve obviously been damaged because they think it’s ok to hit children.

Anyone who hits other people is damaged in some way. No happy and healthy person wants to physically harm others, especially those most vulnerable.