Smacking

[eoinh]

Is smacking a child acceptable?

[cobhrambler 16]

wats the point in this??

[Jim Smith]

wats the point in this??
In my day that sort of insolence would have got you a good thrashing young man.

Take a look at most of the threads in this forum and you could ask the same question.

To answer Eoinh, if an adult was giving you grief would it be acceptable to physically assault them?

[joeSoap]

I believe a smack in the arse or across the back of the legs never did any kid any harm, and gives them a healthy respect of right and wrong. I strongly disagree with hitting around the head or face or ribs and also with any sticks or anything like that.
Children today are developing much faster than we did (I'm 36 :eek: ) and therefore are becoming very cheeky and harder to control.A colleague of mine was complained to social services by childline after his 11 year old rang them because he was put to bed with no playstation and a slap on the arse as punishment for some wrong doing.
How do you combat that??

[green goblin]

No. Of course it's not right to beat children.
As a father of two, can I recommend the quite excellent "Toddler Taming" by Christopher Green for any parents worrying over this issue.
Parents need to be consistent, fair, and be of one mind that if a punishment is threatened it will be carried out- this doesn't mean belting your weans. Likewise they need to remember reward good behaviour when it happens, and remember that more than anything, young children want your love and acceptance and time more than anything else in the world. That and the new Ireland shirt.

[Peadar]

Is smacking a child acceptable?

While I don't think a smack will physically harm or mentally scar most children, I do think that some parents use it as the response to everything a child does wrong as opposed to a last resort.
Smacking a child in a public place is unacceptable though, I think.
It humiliates the child and surely lowers their self esteem, thus leading to further indiscipline.
Children are learning new things every moment of their lives and can't always distinguish between wrong and right. It's the parent’s duty to explain why something is wrong so that the child can learn to decide for themselves in future. Giving a child a smack and telling them something is wrong doesn't help them to think for themselves. If I ever have children I hope that I can communicate wrong and right to them without having to smack them.


That and the new Ireland shirt.
If I had a child who asked for the new Ireland shirt I'd be straight round to Lifestyle. ;)

[Lionel Ritchie]

No. Of course it's not right to beat children.
As a father of two, can I recommend the quite excellent "Toddler Taming" by Christopher Green for any parents worrying over this issue.
Parents need to be consistent, fair, and be of one mind that if a punishment is threatened it will be carried out- this doesn't mean belting your weans. Likewise they need to remember reward good behaviour when it happens, and remember that more than anything, young children want your love and acceptance and time more than anything else in the world. That and the new Ireland shirt.

Thanks for this GG. Just found out I'm gonna be a Da in the not too distant future. :eek:

P.S. not a word to Mrs. Ritchie ;)

[brendy_éire]

The EC has demanded that smacking be banned by national governments.

"The European Social Charter requires EU states to ban smacking and any other form of degrading treatment of children. The European Court of Human Rights has also ruled that corporal punishment violates children's rights.

Last year, the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) lodged a complaint with the European Committee of Social Rights in Strasbourg about Ireland's failure to outlaw corporal punishment of children."

Ye can't hit someone in the street, it shouldn't be any different with a child.

[dahamsta]

I was given a few smacks and a couple of spankings when I was a child and I don't think it did me any harm, but I wouldn't do the same with my youngfella. I've seen my sister bringing up her kids admirably without it, so I don't see any need for it. And when you think about it, these days it's more often the parents that could do with a good smack...

adam

[jofyisgod]

these days it's more often the parents that could do with a good smack...


:) True. I don't like it at all. At the end of the day, a child is defenseless-why should it be used as a punchbag? It shows more insecurities and faults within the parents than the child. I could never smack a child.

[dahamsta]

If a child is acting like some antichristA well brought up child won't. I was in the same camp as yerself until a few years ago and I wouldn't have believed this myself before then, but it's true. Acting the antichrist, except in exceptional circumstances, comes down to one of two things: bad parenting or bad diet. The latter should be recognised by the former, so it all comes down to quality of parenting.

The exceptions are of course kids with learning difficulties, the recognition of which again ultimately come down to parenting.

adam

[Jim Smith]

If a child is acting like some antichrist, then surely a light smack is hardly inappropriate.
What happens when the 'light smack' no longer has any effect? Are you hitting the child out of frustration?
Just because my mother used to hit me on occasion and I'm relatively OK doesn't mean that there aren't better ways. Nor dose it mean that she was a bad parent. I actually went on a parentinng course and found it very useful. Being a parent isn't easy or straight forward but negotiation and actually listening to your kids is way better than teaching them that 'might is right'.

[Jim Smith]

Acting the antichrist, except in exceptional circumstances, comes down to one of two things: bad parenting or bad diet.
The diet thing is interesting. I saw a documentary a while back where they looked at the diet of some 'difficult' 8 year olds. They cut the carbonated drinks and crisps out of their school lunches and balanced their diets for two weeks and the transformation was incredable. On young guy's reading aagewent up by two years and the class was much more civilised. Basiclly the kids were suffering from a sugar crash which causes manic behavior in kids. Take the sugar 'highs' away and the kids calm down over a short period of time. The standard response to these kids was to prescribe ritalin - and condem them for the rest of their lives.

[Metrostars]

The diet thing is interesting. I saw a documentary a while back where they looked at the diet of some 'difficult' 8 year olds. They cut the carbonated drinks and crisps out of their school lunches and balanced their diets for two weeks and the transformation was incredable. On young guy's reading aagewent up by two years and the class was much more civilised. Basiclly the kids were suffering from a sugar crash which causes manic behavior in kids. Take the sugar 'highs' away and the kids calm down over a short period of time. The standard response to these kids was to prescribe ritalin - and condem them for the rest of their lives.


Ahhh, ritalin. The US pediatrician's answer to all kids over-hyperactivity. Over here the issue with hyperactive kids has become almost acedemic and doctors are making it worse by the knee jerk response of perscribing ritalin. Back when I was a kid, a kid was "figity" not hyperactive. And the reason for being figity? Diet. So many of today's processed foods, snacks, drinks etc are loaded with sugar that send kids moods up and down like a ping pong ball.

As for discipline, thankfully my parents never smacked me. The only time I got a whack from an authoritive figure was when I whistled in 4th class because a few lads and I were talking about the previous night's Benny Hill show when we were supposed to be doing our sums. Sister Brid the bitch whacked me on the knuckles about 10 times. It's a good job I didnt tell her we were talking about Benny Hill.

I have 3 kids, aged 5,5 and 3 and I would kill anyone who would touch them. So why would I want to harm and hurt the most important people in my life. I like to use the old stand in the corner and face the wall routine and that generally gets the message across to them.

[Sonic]

Ill be reporting you if you smack again :mad: ;)