Should we finally make smacking children illegal?

eddie wrote:I used to get hit by my dad and all I remember was hating him for it. It's just a form of shutting someone up because you lost your temper with them.

Smacking is never ok, never.

We don't need to smack, we don't really need to shout (I know we do) because when we deal with other adults we don't do any of these things - and if we do, that other person is shocked and says "don't hit/shout at me!!"

And what age do we stop hitting them? 11....13....16th birthday?

Syl wrote:Smacking children should be made illegal in the UK, a panel of experts told the United Nations yesterday.
In England and Wales parents can carry out 'reasonable chastisement', but face prosecution if a child suffers bruising, cuts or scratches. In Scotland parents can lodge a defence of "justifiable assault"!!

A spokesperson for the NSPCC said smacking is not the best way to resolve problems and improve behaviour in children.

Is it time the UK banned the parental right of chastising children by smacking?


http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/make-smacking-children-illegal-call-8035314

Stormee wrote:Sitting on the norty step is a complete fiasco, failure, not working, just look at forums to see it, uncouth, ill manned, dirty mouths, liars.

Wop the little bleeduz I say.

4EVER2 wrote:OMG, this is a tough one; I'm always torn about such issues.
When is 'BIG BROTHER' government looking over our shoulder - peering into our private lives enough?
Granted, there are - will always be those humans that are just so deviant that going far beyond the 'proper mode' of any discipline is too far - and those that don't do any and allow their urchins to run amuck and shouldn't be taken out into any public setting, period.

My parents & grandparents were #1 time warnings provided and then - YOUR ASS WAS GOING TO GET A SWAT ...dad you always could count on 2 swats.
1 to get your attention since you didn't listen the first time
2nd swat was to be sure that this bad habit event wasn't repeated - EVER

Mom was more apt to swing at you with whatever she had in her hand at the moment: hand/wooden spoon/broom/yard rake/rolled up news paper/fly swatter. 

I lived to tell the tale; compare notes with other 'baby boomer' aged kids and retell to my grandkids - whom I've never touched/swatted/spanked - EVER. 
I just don't think that our government - your government should be dictating how we raise our children; don't our officials have enough to do.  And besides aren't there laws on our books now, that cover those rare - stupid humans that torture & abuse children?

HoratioTarr wrote:

Syl wrote:Smacking children should be made illegal in the UK, a panel of experts told the United Nations yesterday.
In England and Wales parents can carry out 'reasonable chastisement', but face prosecution if a child suffers bruising, cuts or scratches. In Scotland parents can lodge a defence of "justifiable assault"!!

A spokesperson for the NSPCC said smacking is not the best way to resolve problems and improve behaviour in children.

Is it time the UK banned the parental right of chastising children by smacking?


http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/make-smacking-children-illegal-call-8035314

You don't need to smack kids.  You just need to firm and consistent in saying 'no' and not overindulge them.   Children like routine, it makes them feel safe.

While much of Dr. Spock's advice is still followed today, some has been replaced and even discredited. A notable example is his 1958 call to put babies to sleep on their stomachs. His reasoning was that if a baby were to vomit, he would be more likely to choke on the vomit if placed on his back. It's a legitimate concern, but an even bigger danger than choking is SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). Later research showed that stomach-sleeping is one of the major causes of SIDS, and these deaths are greatly reduced when infants sleep on their backs. The stomach-sleeping philosophy was a part of Dr. Spock's advice for some years after studies began to render it suspect. While later editions of Baby and Child Care no longer advocate stomach-sleeping, the bad advice took its toll on Spock's reputation as an infallible expert.

Syl wrote:Sometimes official advice is dangerous even deadly.

When I had my own son NHS advice was to swaddle your baby at night  to make him feel safe....later swaddling (snuggly wrapping the baby  completely in a blanket arms at the side) was blamed for babies overheating which was thought to have caused some cot deaths.

Syl wrote:Sometimes official advice is dangerous even deadly.

When I had my own son NHS advice was to swaddle your baby at night  to make him feel safe....later swaddling (snuggly wrapping the baby  completely in a blanket arms at the side) was blamed for babies overheating which was thought to have caused some cot deaths.

eddie wrote:Both my children hated being wrapped up.

A lot of mums have a tendency toward over-dressing babies IMO

Expert Warns of the Dangers of Swaddling Infants
The ancient practice soothes infants—but also has risks.
By Sandy Hingston  |  October 29, 2013 at 4:12 pm

It was good enough for Jesus, as the coming holiday season reminds us—not to mention Prince George, who got his first intro to the public wrapped in a white muslin version by Brooklyn’s own Aden + Anais brand. The swaddling blanket has become haute bébé couture, with new moms from Sandra Bullock to Beyoncé pledging allegiance to the ancient practice of tightly wrapping infants from head to toe—albeit in au courant versions of swaddling blankets from companies like Little Giraffe, Munchkin and Summer Infant. The soothing technique has undergone a major revival; nine out of 10 American infants now get the wrap treatment in their first six months of life. Evidence has shown it reduces crying and colic and helps lull babies to sleep.
 
But a British pediatric orthopedic surgeon has stepped forward to warn that new studies show baby-bundling can have a serious downside.
In an article in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, Southampton University Hospital professor Nicholas Clarke writes that because swaddling straightens the legs and shifts the hips forward, it increases the chance your baby’s hips will become misaligned (a condition known as hip dysplasia) and may heighten the risk of osteoarthritis—and the need for hip replacement—later in life.

An educational campaign in Japan that warned grandmothers not to swaddle grandchildren cut the incidence of hip dislocation in infants in half.
Swaddling can be safe, so long as baby-wrappers take care not to wind blankets so tightly that legs can’t bend up and out at the hips. And any swaddling product you buy should include a pouch for your baby’s feet and legs, leaving them free to move. So keep on wrapping, but not too tightly, please.
Read more at http://www.phillymag.com/be-well-philly/2013/10/29/expert-warns-dangers-swaddling-infants/#uejmVHSk275Ube7f.99

HoratioTarr wrote:

Syl wrote:Sometimes official advice is dangerous even deadly.

When I had my own son NHS advice was to swaddle your baby at night  to make him feel safe....later swaddling (snuggly wrapping the baby  completely in a blanket arms at the side) was blamed for babies overheating which was thought to have caused some cot deaths.

Central heating and homes with no fresh air, and too much insulating is more likely to be at fault.   I was swaddled and so were all my siblings.  I did the same with my child.