hi ladies,

I am just interested in how people feel on this subject after the recent blow up in the news about making it illegal to smack your child.
my son is 15 months old and occasionally will get a smack after he has been told over and over not to do something ie: touch things that r out of bounds, or if he does something terrible that he known dam weel is wrong.
i think there is a difference between smacking and belting your child.
if your child understands the reason behind the smack, and if they do it again there will be the same outcome they will obide by the rules.i was smacked as a child and i tell you what i behaved, my father would give me a look if i was starting to play up and that was it i was good, and i think i turned out alright, along with my 2 sisters who were also smacked.
I think that nowdays there are 2 many children walking all over there parents.
What do you think?
should the goverment ban smacking?
if you don't ever smack what is your form of disipline when your child is very naughty? and is it affective?

I don't smack my girl I just tap her on the nappy when she is doing something dangerous (like playing with plugs near the tv)

I'm not saying that i'd never smack my child though. If I caught her hitting a kid in the head with a brick she'd get smacked but for every day things I think poeple smack their kids too much for the stupidist things and most parents smack for a quick solution instead of their child learning the naughty spot.

I would never support the law about now smacking your child because I've seen kids walking over their parents and yelling abuse at them and I wouldn't tolerate that behaviour.

I agree with you totally youngmum2be,
my first question is how do you sit a 14 month old in a corner and explain to her why she's there and her to understand everything your saying? my daughter gets told twice no and if she keeps touching things she shouldn't or doing things she knows she shouldn't she gets a smack on the hand.
And if all these new parenting techniques are so great and work so well, then why since people have been using them are more and more kids getting into drink, drugs and crime?

There was a woman on the radio that had a great point. That banning smacking isn't going to stop or help catch the bad people that are actually abusing their children.

Unfortunately, I don't think any kind of smacking is seen as acceptable out in public anymore, and its only going to get worse. Because its such a subjective topic and always in the media so it seems, every-one is on the look out for it and quick to judge.

Its often the parents that look like great parents on the surface that actually abuse their kids behind close doors.

As far as the government wanting to ban smacking is concerned - they should butt out of how we raise our children. They have far more worrying issues to take care of such as lowering petrol prices etc.

I feel that how you raise your child is your own business.

Personally, I don't have problems with a little whack on the bottom/thigh. I feel that with many children this works better than trying to talk to a child. I sometimes wonder if children would be so disrespectful these days if there parents did still use a whack (or the threat of it even) instead of time out etc???

I know that when I was a child, all my parents had to do was pull out dad's belt used as the strap and flick it a couple of times and my brother and I would toe the line very quickly. We rarely ended up being smacked with it even.

As for the whole putting fear of pain into the child thing, that actually is the point - you are making the child fear the consequence of being naughty. How scary is it for a child if they're going to have nothing but a stern word and a few quiet minutes in a corner as a consequence? Probably not very scary at all.

I agree with you totally, i was smacked when I was younger and I smack my DD who is 3. She is old enough now to understand what is right and what is wrong ( well to an extent anyway) As much as a three year old can.
I don't see anything wrong with smacking a child, yeah after a few warnings of course and a good explanation of why....
There is ahuge difference between belting your child and smacking your child.
I know people who have never smacked their children and i can tell you, I don't like being around them, they run all over their parents and get away with murder.......... Then our children have to pay for it when they act up..........
The government can try and ban smacking but they can't determine what you do in your own house..... If they are going to come and look after my little one and deal with the consequences of not smacking... Go right ahead.

Don't get me wrong I don't smack her every chance I get, but she knows if she is doig soemthing wrong and doesn't pull up after being asked to do so then she knows she will get a smack....

Sorry feel very strongly about this one!!

Hi all I have a daughter who is 15 months old and I know that when I say no to her and she do it anyway or I do is give her a little tap on her bottom but she has a nappy on and tell her why I have just give her a tap on her bottom and I dont believe in giving the child a belt or wooden spoon cause I have seem people that have had that done to them and what it looks like and I couldnt do that to my daughter and that would hurt to much and I think that the goverment causes some of the problems when they have these great idea how children should be raise by there parents and I know that when I was growing up and when I was in trouble with my parents all they had to do was give me a look or a talking to and that made me feel awful and I hated when my parents were angry with me and thats how I want to raise my daughter.

I think it ridiculous for the gov to ban smacking, they should be focusinig on those who beat their kids up, I was smacked as a child (not often) and I turned out fine, my mum died and my dad re-married, my step mum beat me up all the time so I know the difference. I smack Hayley on the hand occasionally if she touches things that are dangerous and only after I have told he no 50 million times and used other forms of discipline (I actually lightly tap her on the hand) I agree that there are too many children who walk all over there parents, there are SOME children who need to be smacked (or pulled into line) a bit more than others, as a kid I was bought up in a house where you had to use your manners to get anything, respect your elders, clean up after yourself, don't jump all over the funiture (at home or anywhere else), wash your hands before dinner and if when your old enough to go out and buy things we had to work for it. Thats exactly how I will be raising my kids.

Hi you have prob got over replied but i thought i would also put my opionion forward.. i have a very difficult 2.5year old who doesnt seem to care about the naughty wall or taking toys away he just doesnt seem to care (i once took everything off him and made him play with nothing and he just couldnt have cared less) so i find even just the threat of a smack does the trick.. I have a teory for all these people against smacking and want it banned who havent spent a day with my 2.5year old is that if i dont discipline him how ever its going to work then when he is 15 and assulting them and breaking into their houses because he was never disciplined then they are to complain to no one!! Just because i believe in smacking does NOT mean i hit him hard i NEVER leave a mark and always make sure i explain why and then give him a hug after to reassure him that i do love him just not his actions.. each to their own though i dont judge others who dont smack or dont believe in it. (who knows ihave a 10month old that when she grows up may never react to a smack and reacts better to the naughty wall etc) WHATEVER works!!!!!!!!!!!

hi i support smacking i have to i smack my son on the hand,that is effrctive,as telling him off,sending him to his room doesnt help,when he was 1/2mnths old,smacking him on the nappy,well he used to laugh at me,i support smacking,a good tap on the hand doesnt hurt!!!