Was spanking/smacking common in the 1990s? Struggling with PIL

[onlyonsunday]

Found out recently that FIL would spank/smack/hit DH, until DH was age 11/12. FIL only stopped when DH got big and strong.

These weren't awful 'hidings' and didn't result in injury or broken skin. DH had to lay across FIL's lap and he would hit his bum over his clothes so no bare skin.

DH is totally unfazed by this and says it didn't do any harm. I have never known anyone hit their children in any way and am horrified. This would have been between 1985-1995. Was it fairly normal then? Or was this unusual?

There are other things in DH's childhood that I find horrifying, so I know my feelings on the spanking will be influenced by the other stuff.

So looking for thoughts on how this would have been viewed at the time.

TLDR: was spanking deemed normal as recently as 1995?

Edited to say: this is in the UK

Absolutely NOT! It’s violence against dc. It’s abusive.

I remember it happening actually, there was a religious private school challenging the decision as they said it was their religious beliefs to beat kids. 🤦

@ImImmortalNowBabyDoll wow.

Amazing that people will pay for their children to be treated like that. It was purely academic at my private school, but I find it mad that there were 13 years when it was legal to injure some children but not others.

They fought in court for the right to hit kids and the parents supported them, it's wild. It wasn't until 2000 that they were finally told it had to stop and then were still trying to reinstate it in 2001.

I think me and most of my friends had that sort of smack, there was a baby book by Dr jolly in the 80s that recommended it

OP you have had lots of answers about whether people were hit or not, but you haven't said why this is making you struggle with PIL. Have they indicated that they would hit or otherwise abuse your child/children?

Born in 65 ,wooden spoon or a slap was the way in our house .Husbands mum used a belt. Grew up with the belt on your hand at school max 6 at a time .
Our ds wasn't disciplined physically.
Times change sometimes for the better

I was born in the 70s never smacked. My dc was born in the 1990s never smacked. My mum and my grandma were also never smacked so on that side of my family 100 years of children not being smacked, in grandmas case her parents stopped school from caning their children too.