Smacking Children

Just thought I would see what people thought as it has been a very topical subject lately..

that programme is on ITV tonight isn't it?

Okay...here goes.

When I was little I was smacked, quite a lot actually.
It hurt.
It did not make me stop doing stuff.
Actually, I remember being turned over my mother's knee for something when I was about 5 or 6, can't remember what it was for, but do remember thinking'this doesn't make you right, it just means you're bigger than me at the moment and I can't do anything about it, but you're still wrong.'
I vowed I'd never do it to a child of mine and told my parents that as I grew up, they said kids needed to be smacked to learn how to behave. I then went to 6th form and met my head of sixth forms sons. They had never been smacked and were really great lads (and very successful now too). They were gentle and kind. They had NEVER had a finger raised to them in their lives and I was fascinated by it. they proved to me that smacking is wrong.

I have never and will never lay a finger on my son. It would prove nothing other than I can hurt him and I am angry.
I think smacking is wrong, totally.
I know not everyone will agree,but I truly believe it serves no purpose, other than to teach a child bigger is stronger and stronger is right. I talk to my son and always have.

Controversial huh???!!!!

Thought I would also add I don't smack Sam, for us it is unnecassary ...he responds well to positive methods.

I wonder if my veiw would be different if I had 2 or 3 "Sams" to deal with though

Rachel

Yes Ailsa it is .. I will be watching with interest !
I was "put over the knee" as a child and it just steeled my resolve to deserve it more next time! It never made me think I was wrong, just that I was smallest
Rachel

When I was a pup, my punishments came with a repeated explanation.........

1/ If I smack you, you will only remember why you've been punished for as long as it stings, as soon as it stops stinging, you will forget the attempted lesson

2/ If I ground you for a week, you have a long time to reflect on your (action / attitiude / or whatever!) and will hopefully learn the attempted lesson

3/ If i smack you, I will hurt my hand. I have done nothing wrong, why should I be in pain?

Don't you just HATE know it all parents!!

Unfortunately for Charlie, I punish her in the same way - no smacks here :smt002

I was smacked only three times in my childhood, once after my parents had split and I was in my dads care, the social worker came round to see how things were going and My brother and I were naughty, dad smacked us both on the leg and sent us to bed, the second time was when I stole twenty pence from my mums purse, the last time was when I lied to her face about something quite serious. I can say for certain that i would never do any of the above again but it doesn't make it the right way of going about it. I can also say that I have been punished in other ways for things and I also wouldn't do them again, so I am on the fence with this one really, having no children of my own makes it a little hard to feel and understand things from a parents point of veiw

Me too Rachel!!!!
Don't think I was the easiest of children...but the smacking made me worse...turned me into an argumentative madam too...can you tell?????

sometimes I think George will grow up saying 'I wish they'd just smacked me and shut up!!!!!' No chance of that though!!!!!

That's EXACTLY what I used to think!!

Hmmm, this is one topic that I don't have very fixed ideas about

I was probably smacked occasionally when I was little (a slap on the back of the hand, or on the back of the legs, never "put over the knee"), and I barely remember it. My parents were the sort who had natural authority, a slight inflection to their voice was enough to make us squirm, so we very rarely pushed anything that far, let alone to smacking point.

I'm told that my sister got a smack with a wooden spoon the day she (purposefully) dropped my 1 year old brother on his head. George got the same the day he let the hand-brake off in the car and ran me over (I was 2). Knowing my parents, I suspect that these were more symptoms of shock than rational decisions, but both my siblings remember these events with total clarity, and never did anything similar again.

I can't help thinking that if my mum and dad were the screaming-sort and/or doled out smacks routinely, they wouldn't have had half as much effect as they did. If parents can't control their kids without that kind of behaviour, they probably can't control them with it, so they'd be better off investing some time in parenting classes.