Did all parents hit their kids in the 1970s?

[Polythene]

I often hear that this was the norm. But was it, really?

I remember being told before we set off for a boring shopping trip, "If you misbehave, I'll turn you upside down and smack your bare bottom in front of the whole of Marks and Spencer" by my mother.
She would have too.

School punishments consisted of a smacm or ruler across thd knuckle in primary. Secondary we still had the belt.

I was smacked but not hit or beaten. I was also smacked at school and at Brownies!

Completely normal in my house but had been made illegal by the time I started school in 1979 ish? Both of my parents would have been beaten in school and their parents before them. A slap on the backside/back of the legs/hands was pretty routine in my house between 1-12 yrs of age.

I think it has died out [at least for adults who weren't routinely abused into their teens] in large part because it was not normal for us to be beaten in school and socially people have become more aware and consciously changed behaviours as parents.

Yes, the cane was punishment at the secondary school that I attended in the 1980s

Yes, physical punishment was used in my household in the 70s & 80s

Definitely still had the cane at school in the 80s.

No idea about other families, but yes I was hit in the 1970s and the 1980s by both my parents and step-parents. We had the slipper at my prep school in the 1980s, but only the boys were hit, the girls were let off with a stern telling off.

I started secondary in 1981. The HT definitely had a cane, that was talked of by the children, but I don't know of it ever being used.

In my house, our parents gave a smack on the bottom when behaviour had been extremely bad. It was given as a last resort.

I just looked up corporal punishment in Schools.

It was outlawed in state schools 1986, but that didn't apply to fee paying schools until 1998!

From 1982 parents could refuse to allow schools to administer physical punishments.

I only really remembered being smacked once when I was young and ran out into a small side road. Both primary and secondary was wooden ruler over the knuckles.

Smacked, never beaten, and not in anger.

At home no, it just wasn't what my mum and dad did. I was born late 60s. I'm not sure whether they were very against it or just weren't paying that much attention to what we were doing.

The strap was used at school - private school - but not regularly. Remember it maybe once or twice being used - not on me.

We had an art teacher who used to throw board rubbers to get people's attention - she was famously a bit mad.

Up to a point I can see truth in this and I think there is probably a stronger argument for smacking (short sharp tap, not a mark-leaving slap or wallop) a toddler than there is an older child who could fathom a link between a certain behaviour and a consequence like missing a playdate or some other punishment.

With small children, I can see an argument for making an immediate connection between something that is dangerous, like running on the road, rather than trying to rationalise with them and have them take no notice.

My friend had a puppy who was reward trained - which I think is standard now, but sadly he did get run over as he wouldn't listen when the reward of the chase was better than the normal treat.

I am just fortunate we had easy toddlers as I would be very conflicted about it.

I think it wasn't banned until late 80s.

Seems hard to believe that it was still legal until then!

There was no corporal punishment at my 2ndry school & I started there in the 70s.

Maybe because it was all girls?

I am just fortunate we had easy toddlers as I would be very conflicted about it.

I used to keep mine on reins when they were toddlers if there was a chance they could run into the road.

Same with my dogs!
(Well leads!)

Never knew anyone who did. Glad it's illegal now

Is the current MH crisis really a crisis? Because I had depression at 17 and was given prozac and expected to get on with it, no allowances etc. Many weren't even that fortunate. Nowadays we're helping kids and teens with their mental health rather than forcing them to suppress everything until they end up like us millennials, on a mh journey in our 30s and 40s.

Imagine a world where women in their teens and 20s are given the tools to manage things like pmdd, where conditions like bipolar are recognized earlier, where people have therapy and treatment? Many weren't mentally well when we were kids. Even down to the sheer number of eating disorders and kids drinking excessively.

When children are too young to manage their impulsivity we keep them safe with hand holding. Reins, buggies and vigilance. Not hitting

I was the only girl on our drive that wasn't slapped by my parents. It didn't stop the teachers at primary school though.

Yes, you are right.

My mum didn't hit me or my brother

Born early 70's. Yes, slapped across head, backside, back of legs by both DF and DM. Had my mouth washed out with a bar of soap for swearing and I said the word 'crap'. Had that at home and junior school (around 10 yo? 😬)

At school, we had the cane for boys, slipper for girls - across the backside up until final year so mid-late 80s. Indiscriminately thrown blackboard rubbers across class rooms by irate teachers and often yelled at by male teachers .

My DF was unnecessary violent with his punishment, especially with my DB.

I think the worst of it was the emotional and phycological abuse from my parents rather than the smacking; that has been far more damaging, for me anyway.

It probably wasn’t the norm as such, but it was normalised. It certainly was widespread, both in the home and in school.

Those who didn’t experience it probably didn’t know how widespread it was.

I was born in the 60s and my parents did not believe in physical punishment - I was terrified of a friends DF who used a vicious looking leather strap hung by the fireplace on her and her DB
At school we had a variety of options - cane, slipper, ruler, strap etc
I never received any although did occasionally have the board rubber thrown at me for not paying attention

No. I just kept my mouth shut. I'm not convinced he didn't smack his kids either. It cascaded down the generations. We saw my grandfather on my dad's side very rarely but he once looped his fingers into the collar of a small boy and yanked him backwards for the hell of it. The boy's mum tore a strip off him when she found out.

I was very fearful of my parents.