Banning smacking in public places

[Lilly]

Heard on the radio this morning that there are plans to ban the smacking of your children in public places.I think that this is a really stupid idea.It seems that they always have to be banning something at the moment.There isn't much more they can do to the smokers now so what next? Ban smacking,ban eating,ban drinking,ban breathing! Not only is it an example of a nanny state but how on earth are they going to enforce this ban?It won't deter the real child abusers because they don't do it in public anyway,preferring to do it behind closed doors where they can really let rip.All it means is shame and punishment(though I don't think they said on the radio what the proposed punishment would be)for the millions of decent and loving parents out there who are just trying to bring up well mannered,well behaved children.One of these parents might have given their child a smacked bottom for misbehaving whilst out shopping but this sort of smack is far removed from systematic,prolonged child abuse.I don't think bans such as this one do any good,they punish the one off smackers while the real offenders carry on.I'd be interested to hear what others think on the matter.

[jambutty]

Someone please convince me that we are not dashing headlong into a ‘Big Brother’ scenario where the powers that be govern every single second of our lives.

If you are going to punish a child for misbehaviour it has to be done there and then.

If that means a sharp slap across the back of the legs to bring an unruly child into line then so be it.

But to punish the kid later at home is unlikely to have any effect other than instil resentment in the child because it won’t really relate the slap to something that it did several hours ago.

Years ago when my eldest daughter was about nine years old we were stood at a bus stop in Blackburn and she was really misbehaving in spite of being told not to. Calmly I grabbed her by the hand sat down on the curb, pulled her across my knee and gave her a sharp slap across the legs.

She NEVER misbehaved in public again whilst with me. I don’t think that it was the slap that did it but the embarrassment of being punished in public that did the trick.

[garinda]

I'd like to smack quite a few adults across the back of the legs.

[WillowTheWhisp]

They are not suggesting that the parent should smack the child later at home rather than there and then. What they are saying is that a child should not be smacked at all and that anyone seen doing so in public should be dealt with.

Apparently we should be able to reprimand our children without resorting to smacking.

I was once accused of child abuse on this forum when I admitted to having smacked my children when they were naughty and too young to understand a reasoned argument.

[jambutty]

If you will not be able to smack a child in public there will be a tendency to wait until you get back home before dishing out the punishment.

Remember the ‘good old days’ of “wait till your father gets home” after mum’s patience expired. Or “wait while I get you home”. Banning smacking in public will herald the return of those days and by then the parent could well be angry, tired and just wanting a cup of tea and feet up for half an hour so the kid gets it hard and with anger.

If it comes to the last resort of a sharp slap the punishment should be meted out in a cool, calm and deliberate manner and without anger.

I’m off to watch United. Bye!

[lancsdave]

If a child gets smacked in public then that child is also likely to get smacked at home anyway regardless.

One of these parents might have given their child a smacked bottom for misbehaving whilst out

I'd love some kids to be able to follow their parents when they are on a night out and administer the same punishment

[panther]

and they wonder why today's kids are getting out of hand!!

they can do what they want, when they want and the bloody law wont do naff all, only prosecute the parents 'if' they slap em
which if they did in the first place the kids wont be little ****s!!!!!

[Margaret Pilkington]

I agree panther......sometimes a little smack beats all the reasoning in the world.

[mrskitty]

I actually thought it was illegal to smack kids fullstop anyway now.
I have never smacked jack (i have 'tapped' him once and felt so horrible afterwards, it effected me more than him) and tell my family that if they smack him i will report them to them police-and i will.
My mum was one of these that was too embarrassed to smack us in public so when we got a hiding when we got home we wondered what the hell it was for.
I dont agree with smacking.
Please dont comment on this post.

[Eric]

Originally Posted by garinda

I'd like to smack quite a few adults across the back of the legs.

Well if you are into that and you are ever in Kingston, drive up Princess St, turn rt. onto Victoria, and my house is on the corner of Victoria and North Bartlett St.

But seriously folks: I remember my mom giving me one hell of a licking when I threw a tantrum at a toy store window because she would not buy me a bike ... and this at a time when it was a struggle to put food on the table! A woman told her that she should not do that, and my mom, god bless her, told the interfering b**ch, that if she didn't shut her gob she would get a good smacking too. If the punishment doesn't come under the heading of "cruel and unusual punishment" there is nothing wrong with it. I didn't suffer from post traumatic stress disorder. I didn't grow up hating my mum. Even as a child (and in a lot of ways I still am one) I did not hate my mum for what she did. I knew I deserved what I got.

[panther]

exactly eric!!

[davo69]

as long as the punishment is for the right reason .my 2 children had the ocasional smack on the back of the legs they have grown up two be the most wonderfull children with respect for all.they say you should never shout or smack a child thats why all over the country kids are running a mock.

[West Ender]

Only the naturally vicious or the terminally stupid would ever want to hurt their child but there are times when a smacked bottom is the best answer. My children were smacked when all else failed, which didn't happen often, and they are now responsible adults, reasonably sane and quite nice people.

[panther]

theres smacking and theres thumping which are totally different. that i would never condone!!

[Margaret Pilkington]

Legalise pot...but criminalise parents who want to discipline their children....that'd be right!