Content |
I have 7 year old twin boys. I have never smacked them and would like to see legislation which offers the same protection to children as the rest of the community. If I hit another person when they stepped over what is an acceptable boundary to me I would have ended up in court many times!
As for the young people who are aggressive and who show little respect I feel that many of them have been oversmacked. I work in social work and see many parents use smacking as the main and most accepted form of punishment. Little smacks on the hand for attempting to take a biscuit without asking etc...
It is not so far back that there was legislation allowing a man to hit his wife - I hope most people would feel this is unacceptable and I am sure it will only be a matter of time until this view is passed on to the smallest and most vulnerable in our society.
As far as smacking 'not doing any harm' goes I would prefer to ensure that what I do does some good.
I was smacked as a child and, yes, I felt loved by my parents but I always felt really bad about MYSELF when I was smacked and I couldn't tell you WHY I was smacked. It didin't TEACH me anything - although as I got older it made me have a more dishonest relationship as i lied to avoid getting hit.
It isn't easy to find other ways to have discipline but it is possible.
|
