Did all parents hit their kids in the 1970s?

[Polythene]

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

I was hit occasionally - mainly by my mum, never my dad. I remember lads at secondary regularly being manhandled by teachers - the worst was a tiny female science teacher - she was vicious. I don’t remember anyone really being traumatised by it, it was just a threat you lived with and accepted.

I was a strict parent but never physically disciplined my DC. The ‘look’ was often enough!

Didn't happen to me. Wasn't aware of it happening to any of my friends either.**

Not my experience in my family growing up. Nobody ever hit me or siblings and we were never threatened with being hit (or cousins as far as I’m aware). In fact, my parents never even shouted at us and my grandparents were equally calm and measured. Teachers never threatened or acted on corporal punishment either. I did not grow up in the UK so maybe that has some bearing on this difference.
I never even heard about domestic violence in real life until I was in my 30s reading about it in magazines or on the internet. The concept just didn’t exist in my head. It would obviously crop up in some literature or in movies and I was aware people do suffer around the world but I simply didn’t realise this is the reality in societies where I lived over the years. Not exactly an abstract idea but I did not realise it can happen regularly in the real world.
I don’t know if it makes a real difference from my own upbringing, but I have always been able to identify volatile characters or people with violent tendencies because, to me, they are not normal people, there is something deeply unpleasant about them, an undercurrent even if they appear pleasant enough, and would avoid any kind of interaction at all costs.

My mum used to smack us fairly regularly when we were young. Don’t remember it ever hurting, but dad never ever smacked us.

Thrashed to within an inch of my life. Or threatened with this.

I was smacked in the 60s

You may be right but it'd be terrible science. Massive response bias, any conclusions likely to be wildly wrong when there is perfectly good published research that would be so much better.

My parents divorced when I was very young. My dad never hit me, he preferred to explain why something was the wrong thing to do in a quiet, calm, rational manner. My mother was the opposite. I can still remember the first time she hit me and the sting from the hard slap across my face when I was only 8 years old.

That wasn't discipline, it was abuse.
My dad's approach worked and I've always respected him for it. My mother's approach - together with a boat load of other reasons - caused resentment and I've been NC with her for a long time.

Yes, it was totally normal. My parents and friends parents all slapped, either on the legs or bottom. You would get threatened, *I'll tan your hide!" Granny whipped the dishcloth across the backs of the calves! Teachers used rulers, cane and hymn books to hit pupils.

Agreed some on here were smacked others like us were battered..big difference.💐

One of our teacher at primary school in the 60s used to throw the blackboard rubber at you, rapped knuckles with a ruler was quite common

They

Never.

I was born in the 70s. My parents never hit or smacked me, but I know other kids at the time were. At school ruler across the knuckles, or the cane or belt (!) were dished out. I was rapped across the knuckles once by a teacher. My mum (who was a young parent and also a teacher, but not at my school) lost her absolute shit at the teacher and it never happened again. My parents didn’t believe in physical punishment but would tell me off if I misbehaved. Tbh I didn’t really misbehave that badly. Also like some other PPs they didn’t leave me in the car at the pub!

I was smacked occasionally by my mom, but never by my dad.

I was more in awe of "that look" that my dad would give me.

Obviously doing some sort of dissertation and looking for cheap easy quotes!

It was normal in my world. We would get smacked by hand but the kids either side of us would get the belt.

We knew it was the cane at school if you really messed up. Even after it was stopped, teachers at secondary school would throw either chalk or blackboard rubbers at us and I remember one teacher who would slam a wooden yard long ruler on the desk and if you didn’t move your finger fast enough, then they were getting rapped.

Yes I remember being smacked and my mum was absolutely the loveliest lady. We got smacked at primary school too!

These are my memories too.

Standard in the 80's although in our house it was threatened more than it really ever happened. Only legs, hand or bottom.

No corporal punishment at my all girls' school but our corresponding/brother school had it. Every so often - though not actually very often - you heard of some boy getting the cane and it filled us with horror!

To be honest, I don't recall anyone being as distressed by it as we all kind of act as parents today. As a parent, I feel it is incredibly two-faced and compromising, but as a child I just kind of thought "well that's what happens if an adult needs to really stop you doing something." I didn't have much confusion around why it meant I couldn't go round hitting people - or any of the other things we tell ourselves these days. Mind you, ours never hurt. I only got smacked a few times from memory.

absolutely. Massive difference. I'm sorry that happened to you both.

Mum smacked us, Dad never did. Also got 6 stitches thanks to Mum assaulting me.

Oh yes, the flying blackboard rubbers, I remember them well 😁.

Smacked with flat of hand by Mum, reasonably often. Once by Dad, at Mum's insistence.
Other stuff happened but I've blanked most of it out.

Wish my mother had beaten the shit out of my sister instead of ignoring and minimising her behaviour. I might not be left with cPTSD, panic attacks and flashbacks caused by her hitting, punching, kicking and biting me, as well as stabbing and burning me whenever she could. I had 6 years of being abused and assaulted, yet the one person who was supposed to protect me couldn’t give a flying fuck.

Hit or beaten no, a quick slap on the back of the leg perhaps. Can't say I ever was, or that my brother had more than a tap and I'm a child of the 60s / 70s. Sent to our rooms, knew when we were out of order and even had shoes thrown out of the door (not putting them away) or tv turned off, yes! We had respect, politeness, codes of behaviour drilled into us though, alongside being trusted and allowed to do things children never do now. Discipline takes many forms, and I am sure much took place behind closed doors, just like today.