Minister defends parents' right to smack

British justice secretary, Chris Grayling, has defended the right of parents to smack their children when it is warranted.

"You chastise children when they are bad, as my parents did me," he said. "I'm not opposed to smacking. It is to be used occasionally. Sometimes it sends a message – but I don't hanker for the days when children were severely beaten at school."

Grayling has two children, aged 20 and 16, with his wife Susan and told the Mail on Sunday he occasionally smacked them when they were younger.

The Guardian

In England and Wales, under the Children Act of 2004, mild smacking which causes no more than temporary ‘reddening of the skin’ is permitted.

Nonetheless, punishment towards a child that leads to bruising, swelling, cuts, grazes or scratches means a parent is potentially liable to up to five years in jail.

The UK is one of only a few EU countries not to have introduced a ban on smacking children.


I personally agree with the justice secretary. Sometimes kids do need a smack. It teaches them respect for authority, a thing that many British kids and teenagers today clearly lack.

I don't think there's anything wrong with 'light' smacking, as laid out in UK law. My parents smacked me every once in a while, and I don't believe it did any harm. I'm not a father myself, but I will happily smack my future children if they leave me with no other option.

Of course, any form of physical discipline should not be meted out with care. It must never be the immediate 'go to' action when a child misbehaves, and it must never be too hard. The simple act of being physically chastised - even lightly - is enough to resonate with most children.

reply to post by inj3ct0r


This is perfectly alright, heck, even I would do this when I get kids and if they misbehaved badly. When I got in trouble when I was little, I got the wooden spoon to the tush, though lightly. A good sting will help one know their place. Animals also do it all the time to show dominance or to put another in their place.

I turned out perfectly fine with this method of raising, and am probably one of the most respectable people in my age group.

I personally wouldn't dictate how one raises their kids, that's their choice, and as long as its not abusive to the terms listed in article in OP.

I agree, kids do need a pop to the leg, behind, NOT Beatings though. That's my take on it. I have a 14 year old son and when he acted up I would ask him " Do you want me to pop your leg?" No, he would say. Are you hungry, thirsty, what's wrong? Teach children to communicate with you and all will be fine.

To take a stick, belt, object is not cool to me. I would never do it and my son is fine. No problems.

The evidence is mounting that any kind of physical discipline is harmful to children.

Very few countries allow parents to hit their children.

I'm sure it wont be long before it is outlawed in England as the EU does not approve of this behaviour.

I totally agree, a small smack could actually save a child's life. If a small child runs out onto the road, they don't understand what could happen if a car is coming, they just don't have that forethought as yet, but, if you tell them not to run out onto the road and they still do it, a short smack will be remembered as the consequences if you run onto the road and so just might stop them from doing it again and possibly being killed.
One or two smacks to the hand/legs/ bottom is sufficient to get the message across without really hurting the child. It is more the fright and the getting a row with it that makes them remember.
Hitting a child with objects, punching, hitting on the head or slamming them about is just not on and is indeed abuse.

reply to post by CthulhuMythos


how is it then, that in all the countries were hitting your kids is not permitted, all the kids don't run out onto the road and die?

the kids weren't trained in road safety by hitting them and they survived. wow.

so , u think kids remember something better if you smack them. that's some parenting.

reply to post by lacrimaererum


Such crap, It worked for hundreds of thousands of years.Look at the damage done since the 70's when parents went soft. Kids are worthless little sharts, cant read, write, cant hold a job. Self entitled little whiners.

This is all sounds okay when we assume that all parents are in sound mind. Some parents smack while other parents beat their kids.

Also a smack may work on some kids but not all of them. I think it also depends on the child and their individual personality.

Some children act up do to rejection of some type so hitting them won't help. It can makes them worse making them feel more rejected.

To one child a smack would put them inline while the other it would just set forth resentment to the person who hit them while even another child may even physically fight back eventually or learn that hitting pushes their point of view onto someone. In comes the school bully.

It's not as easy as to smack or not to smack. When should we smack is the question?

Originally posted by zonetripper2065
reply to post by lacrimaererum

 

Such crap, It worked for hundreds of thousands of years.Look at the damage done since the 70's when parents went soft. Kids are worthless little sharts, cant read, write, cant hold a job. Self entitled little whiners.

This... This is why I agree, there needs to be more discipline for the simple reason that kids aren't receiving it and are running amuck. Though not all kids need it, just those that need a lesson taught.

reply to post by ollncasino


Hear, hear.

I think this idea that parents shouldn't slap their kids is inevitable, given that many parents are brutes and would knock holes out of them unless there were some law preventing this.

But slapping - and the threat of it - is essential for bringing up children.

Kids naturally fear being slapped, and that's what keeps them in check.

Also, teachers - being in loco parentis - should be allowed to slap their charges.

But they aren't allowed to in dear old blighty, are they, and we can all see the results.......

Originally posted by lacrimaererum
reply to post by CthulhuMythos

 

how is it then, that in all the countries were hitting your kids is not permitted, all the kids don't run out onto the road and die?

the kids weren't trained in road safety by hitting them and they survived. wow.

so , u think kids remember something better if you smack them. that's some parenting.

Don't be an ass, I very rarely had to smack my children, but on occasion it did happen after numerous warnings I may add.
I used the running on the road as an example. I do not know what the statistics of the number of children killed running out on the road or children who just run out on the road are in other countries or indeed this country for comparison, do you?

Don't sit there and think you can question my parenting skills, if you actually knew me that would be the last thing you would question about me. I have 3 children who ALWAYS get 'very polite' and 'very well behaved' in their school reports, unlike a lot of their classmates who are very cheeky to their teachers, throw things about the class (and sometimes at the teacher) and are very badly behaved regardless of how much the teacher shouts at them.

I have noticed a decline in children's bahaviour in schools over the years, oddly enough it started when the use of the belt in school was removed and teachers were not allowed to discipline children for bad behaviour. When I was at school, even the 'hard nut' kids had some respect for their teachers and certainly for the headmaster, that is something that seems all but gone in schools today (having worked in one I know from first hand experience).
This type of behaviour is not limited to within school either, I see it out of school and even when kids come round to see my kids in my home.

reply to post by CthulhuMythos


parents who hit their kids only do so because they cant control their temper.

bullies.

these parents generally stop hitting their kids when the kids grow big enough to defend themselves,

A kid dented my car years ago with a potato, which he launched right at it, and pretty much just stood there at the side of the road giving me abuse. What I liked the best was when he said "you cant hit me im a child" how surprised he must of been when I knockd him out, must have been 12 or 13 I dunno.

But heres what, I bet you a million pound he aint going to be doing that anymore.

reply to post by Tuttle


if you go around knocking out 12 year old kids you need to be locked up.

then again, maybe karma will look after you.

let us know when the kid bumps into you in another 10years. you won't remember him but i guarantee you that he will remember you. let us know how you get on.

reply to post by ollncasino


How do you know its not the hitting that is causing the bad behavior when out in society away from parents.

The first thing it teaches a kid is that might makes right. If i can beat you up then im in charge.

reply to post by lacrimaererum


Clearly good buddy we have radicaly different world views, but who's to say who's right you know?, I know it most certainly aint you anyway. So maybe man i'd lay off the judging and preaching to others trying to enforce your world view on them, it just dont work that way.

As for Karma, I probably just saved however many people years of misery and financial misery from not having there cars smashed, reckon karma will look after me just fine.

Originally posted by Wertdagf

The first thing it teaches a kid is that might makes right. If i can beat you up then im in charge.

If you don't obey the rules of society, then the police come round to put you in the naughty room. If you resist, then they will beat you up.

Smacking kids teaches them an important life lesson.

reply to post by ollncasino


So resisting arrest is the same as a child being hit by their parents?

Interesting comparison.