I think the current government should ban the smacking of children!

[JC544D]

I think the current government should ban the smacking of children!

More to the point they should ban the gratuitous use of exclamation marks.

Porcupineintherough

I think the abuse, the smacking of children in this country, is a little more important point of debate, than an argument about where an exclamation mark should placed or not on an informal discussion forum.

Still, you've expressed your view on the topic and what you think most important on the subject. I respect that.

Yes but it will be a Labour government who eventually bans smacking I suspect.

oliviastwisted

The Labour party and Liberal Democrats have promised to ban it, it would be great if the Conservatives promise the same.

@JC544D of course I am! You may have figured that I work with children who struggle everyday with their emotions due to neglectful/abusive parenting.

I love how you again avoided my question. Posting on here does not help anyone. Maybe think what you could actually do. I doubt you thought beyond your original post.

Myself and my siblings were all smacked by our parents.Ths was the 1950s when it was commonplace.Nearly all of our friends were too.Teachers at school used a leather strap, even children as young as five got it.I can remember the strap had a hole at the ''holding'' end, that was so it could be hung from a hook on the teacher's desk so it could be used as a deterrent for bad behaviour.I remember one headteacher bringing the strap into religious assembly one morning to use as a threat.
I cannot remember all of this smacking doing us any good.People today find this unbelievable but as I have already stated it was commonplace and universally accepted.

A smack is over quickly, but nagging and shouting lasts longer. My mother said horrid things to me, but a spank or slap is over quickly. Physical punishment is easier to take, but I can see how other folk would see it as unacceptable.

@Ericaequites

A smack is over quickly, but nagging and shouting lasts longer. My mother said horrid things to me, but a spank or slap is over quickly. Physical punishment is easier to take, but I can see how other folk would see it as unacceptable.

I still remember being smacked as a child. It stays with you.

"Ericaequites
A smack is over quickly, but nagging and shouting lasts longer. My mother said horrid things to me, but a spank or slap is over quickly."

So let's try and end the smacking for a start. It's not like it's one or the other.

Sweden was the first country in the world to ban smacking in the home when it outlawed corporal punishment in 1979. Scotland was the 58th to do so in 2020 - the first country in the UK

"Making things illegal just to send a message is considered bad law making. And it ultimately ends up with poorly written laws that aren't effective, and a bad attitude towards the law in the public and by the authorities, who know many of the laws are not enforced, don't make practical sense, and then the authorities are in the position of deciding which laws are "real" and which aren't.

That is not what the law is for."

It's not just to send a message but that is part of what laws are for, fairly obviously.

Yes, not every law is fully enforced but that isn't a reason to say "fuck it, you can speed if you want".

@Ericaequites

A smack is over quickly, but nagging and shouting lasts longer. My mother said horrid things to me, but a spank or slap is over quickly. Physical punishment is easier to take, but I can see how other folk would see it as unacceptable.

That's not invariably true.

@AHungryCaterpillar

Well it’s already seen as unacceptable even if it isn’t illegal, if a parent hits their child ss would be notified so it’s already not considered acceptable

But it's not seen as unacceptable everywhere, is it?

My brother physically disciplines his children. I don't like it; I have talked to him about it, but he believes it is no big deal and if were, it would be illegal.

My parents were both shocked and surprised when my brother (the same brother, ironically ...) said they must not smack their grandchildren. They believe it is normal.

Where I live, I have seen children smacked in public. Not often, and always in a way that makes it clear (very visibly, in an 'I'm doing this for the audience' way) that the parent is not trying to hurt the child but to discipline the child. But I have seen it, and almost always the response has been that smacking is sometimes necessary.

I would never hit my child; I am totally against it and it makes me shudder. But I think it is absolutely naive to imagine it's widely considered unacceptable, and even more so to think people would notify SS.

The parents who smack will continue to smack.

I think some hard hitting tv advertisements and awareness of the long term impact would educate those parents.

I can only think of 2 parents around that smack their DC across the legs.
Thankfully most parents have an awareness about outdated punishments.

if a parent hits their child ss would be notified so it’s already not considered acceptable.
Beating yes, smacking would not be reported.

It's very sad that, today, so many people try to justify the smacking of children!

Is this about Esther rantzen’s daughter? Only there were a huge amount of jolly influential people around the last time we tried to ban smacking. They set up childline. It was a much bigger deal than an incoherent post on mumsnet that says nothing except ‘ban it! Ban it’
I too look forward to seeing what you are actually going to do to improve the lives of children. Because shitposting on a Saturday night isn’t going to cut it. Even if you have been watching ‘That’s Life’.

I agree that smacking should be against the law. But, if you think making it illegal will make any difference whatsoever you are deluded. All it does is encourage the adults prone to smacking will still smack but will also force the child to keep it secret. More children will suffer prolonged abuse this way. A child talking about being smacked will encourage further investigation.
As PP have said it would benefit everyone more if SS had a massive overhaul and funding increase.

This may sound strange but My dad spanked me. I.was hit with wooden spoons or hair brushes. Hands sometimes. Occasionally a stick/cane. And yes it hurt but it stopped me doing whatever i was doing . I dont actually think I'd have cared if I was grounded. Not like i had any friends in primary school. I'd have missed my snail friends but the tree would have still been there a day/ week later. We didn't have phones or ipads or computers when o was growing up so what would they have confiscated that I'd have cared about losing ? The naked headless barbie dolls in the toy box?

It was horrible , but then you hear of all the kids out til god knows what time, texting older men , drink, drugs, truancy and I am grateful inwas smacked and not allowed to rub riot and maybe be one of those kids with an.asbo and a drug habit. I worry about what could have been if all.i got was sat in a corner.

Anyway still, I can't imagine smacking my kids. But I did /do live with the fear of what i can do the day neither give a shit about phones or ipads or TV.

@VelvetChairGirl

I think theres far more important things for government to be doing right now, like stopping kids being groomed by all the trans stuff into demanding experimental drugs and surgery's.

Surely they're capable of doing two things at once? God knows, we pay them enough.

Bollocks. I was smacked as child when I was very naughty. It never escalated and I remember it more being an effective deterrent because of the shame element, not a deterrent because it hurt because it was "violent"

It was never a deterrent for me, mostly because it was so random -mhere was no real logic in when my mother would or would not hit me, so I didn't know what I was meant to do or stop doing to avoid it. Mostly it was pretty obvious that she was simply taking her temper out on me, and frankly I despised her for it. Hardly a healthy parent/child relationship, really.

@Ericaequites

A smack is over quickly, but nagging and shouting lasts longer. My mother said horrid things to me, but a spank or slap is over quickly. Physical punishment is easier to take, but I can see how other folk would see it as unacceptable.

But they aren't, necessarily. My mother would slap but that wouldn't be the end of it, because unsurprisingly her actions sprang out of her bad temper and hitting me didn't make her feel any better, so I'd still get the shouting and grumbling and all the rest of it.

I think it's particularly evil with small children, who won't understand that it is supposed to be some sort of consequence of their behaviour but will just be aware that the person they are most dependent on has suddenly decided it's OK to hurt them.

I agree. My mum smacked me and it didn’t discipline me - I was just terrified of her

I agree that it should be banned so that there is absolute black and white certainty that the physical punishment of children is wrong - no grey areas.

Last year there was a lot of discussion on these boards about horrific cases of children being murdered by their parents/step-parents. In one particular case there were a number of times when family, friends and neighbours saw physical 'punishment' taking place and didn't intervene. Why? Because of the whole 'not my business how others parent' mentality and acceptance and normalisation of the idea that hitting/physically hurting children as 'punishment' is, to some degree, ok. We need a total ban on hitting to get rid of this 'grey area'. Totally agree it won't solve the issue overnight, but we need to send out a clear, unequivocal message that raising a hand to a child (or any other form of physical punishment) is 100% unacceptable in our society.

tyranny

Smacking has already been banned in Wales and Scotland.