Agree or not?

[cee-dee]

Smacking children should be "against the Law".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25529744

There's a difference between a smack or two and a severe beating and I think it's high time all this politically correct, health-and-safety, nanny State stuff should be kicked in to touch, it's got out of hand.

Blanket bans on things only hinder the majority, things out of line should be dealt with as they arise.

[****merlin*****]

growing up i was never smacked

was it because i was angelic? no 

i was taught right from wrong

and wouldnt have dared talk back or done something i knew wrong

i am  at the way some parents talk to their children these days

multiple warnings and swearing

and the child carries on doing the same thing

so (A) they must be spoken to like that a lot hence no surprise and (B) they KNOW they wont get punished and the mother issues warnings like this all the time

i would keel over if my mother swore at me now never mind then 

and vice versa

[paulwyb123]

---

@****merlin***** wrote:

growing up i was never smacked

was it because i was angelic? no 

i was taught right from wrong

and wouldnt have dared talk back or done something i knew wrong

i am  at the way some parents talk to their children these days

multiple warnings and swearing

and the child carries on doing the same thing

so (A) they must be spoken to like that a lot hence no surprise and (B) they KNOW they wont get punished and the mother issues warnings like this all the time

i would keel over if my mother swore at me now never mind then 

and vice versa

---

I saw something similar in asda on christmas eve when a child, 3 or 4, started to eat some crisps that hadn't been

paid for and the mother started screaming and swearing how is that child going to grow up?

[joe_bloggs*]

I think a law like that would be unenforcable,But saying "smacking" a child sounds better than saying  "hitting" a child doesn't it,?same thing though.Weren't men at one time allowed to beat their wives,thankfully we have moved on since then

I,ll bet that amonst the prison population there are many who were physically abused as children

Didn't do them any harm did it?

[bankhaunter]

Weren't men at one time allowed to beat their wives

There is no connection between the beating of wives or for that matter any other adult and the smacking of a child.

A parent is not responsible for the behaviour of other adults, they don't have to protect them from their own actions neither is it their job to teach them how to behave whereas a smack then and there may be the most appropriate punishment for a child in a particular situation.

A child waiting with their mother at a bus stop, tries to dash across the road and receives a smack on a leg which is brief and only remembered as being connected with the action, or they are told they will be sent to bed when they get home for being naughty and so is upset for the rest of the journey, resentment probably meaning they forget why.

[paulwyb123]

With a stick no thicker than thumb I believe

Also they were allowed to sell them at fairs

I bet there were people complaining about a nanny state when

those were stopped

[bankhaunter]

No such law ever existed in England, Blackstone only mentions an old law which permitted men to chastise their wives if they did a wrongful act for which the husband could be held responsible.

[*.*..lola..*.*]

Most kids are pretty clued-up these days, from a very early age, and know exactly what is right and what is wrong when it comes to being smacked etc.

Occasionally when my son is being particularly aggravating (deliberately so!), I'll tell him that if he doesn't stop it right now he'll get a whack - he just laughs in my face and threatens to call Childline LOL.

As annoying as that is, I think it's a good thing that kids are fully aware that they don't have to put up with physical abuse from an adult and that there is someone out there they can go to for help if they need to.

The problem with saying that it is OK to smack kids, is that it is way too easy for lines to get blurred and crossed.