I don´t think any of us could convince you anything Bloss
But if you like next time I ever suppose to post a thread re smacking I promise to title it the - lets all try and convince Bloss on something thread
I am interested in thinking more about the idea of instinct, belief premise Suits my ecology / human ecology background. Bit like the Good Life thread Glitterfairy imo!
The belief premise as a rationale. Seeing smacking from various perspectives as negative. Lots of people have talked about those beliefs already. The example you gave Sophable. I really hope I never have to see what you saw - 6 weeks old - that turns my stomach and makes me very distressed. Those extremes become meshed in my worldview and make me determined to never hit my child - even lightly tap her.
Thats why I have previously used the example of War and smacking. Another form of extreme physical action. I will come to this again in a moment.
The instinct premise - well that could be seen going in two directions:
- In a situation where reflex action occurs to avoid a dangerous or tragic situation - a smack could occur before the normally non-smacking parents brain took over. A protective mechanism, an instinct.
- As a human instinct that is controlled and rebuked as a form of disciplining your child.
Alot of people these days DO see smacking as an instinct or belief they would prefer not to use, controlled or non-controlled. I asked a friend this morning and she said she saw it as a weak reinforcer. Something that holds no education value. Explained very well by Bloss as debatable. The child can learn from it. While that may be true some parents don´t want to use it even if a child does learn from it, because of potential internal and external negative feelings and outcomes for both parties, the child and parent.
Its is an ever increasing sign of the times. There are an increasing number people who don´t like smacking. I subscribe to an ideal of peace, and whilst it may be seen a facile to use in this argument from a pro-smacker viewpoint, its me drawing my line right through all forms of physical actions as much as I possibly can. That is facile in another light. I don´t see being facile in todays world as always being an easy option - because for me its sometimes a difficult journey for the human spirit to not always follow and subscribe to the actions, instincts, beliefs of our ancestors, of humans and try and find new alternatives to live by.