Scotland to ban the smacking of children

With wales likely to follow. A good idea I think .

@IrvineWelsh

Disappointing. I was given the belt almost every week at school and it made me into a cruel, psychotic drug addict. Now our so-called elected representatives would deny future generations such opportunities. PC gone nuts.

it is fooking ridiculous

by all means discourage/socially shame it

but criminalising an exhausted parent because their kid is being a complete aunt is insanity

"mummy why can't I have any Christmas presents?"

"because you were being an arsehole in Morrisons and the SNP Gestapo saw"

Yeah and I don't have kids obv so I don't actually know if I would do it myself but what I do know is that many of my friends in a state of deranged exhaustion have smacked their children and the idea of criminalising that is fooking idiotic 

They're closer to animals than humans and the idea that everything about adult child interaction must be rational is fooking preposterous

And that's leaving aside the intelligence of the average person/parent, which is not high

Scotland to ban smacking whales you say?

I agree with this anyway, I don't see how anyone could hit a child. Children are so nice, even when they're being unbearable.

You have a daughter tho don't you laz? And a nanny. My friends with boys (and no help), I think it's a miracle they haven't just abandoned them in the nest.

It's not about smacking being ideal child rearing, it's about understanding the reality of parenting for some people.

“I don't have kids obv so I don't actually know if I would do it myself”

I HAVE ABSOLUTE FAITH THAT YOU WOULD REGULARLY HIT THEM AND THEY WOULD SOON LEARN THAT IF THEY DON’T DO WHAT MUMMY WANTS THEN MUMMY IS GOING TO HIT THEM UNTIL THEY DO

AND WE SHOULDN’T BE DISCOURAGING THIS: DISCIPLINE IS VERY IMPORTANT!

Let's be honest,laz, you spend only marginally more time functionally child rearing than I do.

I don't think erring on the side of compassion for people with hard lives is some mad irrational take. I mean frankly I don't hugely care if children all get taken into care because of stasi-like misunderstandings but others might.

You have a daughter tho don't you laz? And a nanny. My friends with boys (and no help), I think it's a miracle they haven't just abandoned them in the nest.

I was much more trouble than my brother was and got smacked far more often.

I can see your point to the extent that the reasons people hit their kids are sometimes understandable at a human level, but so are the reasons people drink and drive. Making something criminal is not the same as saying it is unforgivable.

I spend enormous amounts of time looking after my kids.

It is unfair to generalise but I understand the consensus is that boys won't rationalise and more often need to be punished.

Sounds a fooking nightmare anyway. I'd rather have been smacked than that ridiculous naughty step farrago.

My elder daughter is easily as much of a PITA as my friends' sons btw. My younger hasn't had the chance yet but I can tell she's planning sthg.

It's not about forgiveness, it's about pragmatism. If a teacher is criminalised for smacking her child she will lose her job and the family will lose that income.

I want the next Rebus to be about the hunt for a random Edinburgh nutter who beats children and then shags a really old person.  (Not rebus, obv, he has heart issues.)

Those in favour of smacking always pitch this as a "light tap" or "a useful option to help discipline an unruly child" and say things like "it never did me any harm".

Those against are usually those who were beaten and brutalised as a child, and there are a LOT more of them than you think.

I would advocate a sensible compromise that in order to do this, you must obtain a "smacker's permit" which enables you to administer 5 light smacks per permit.  And to obtain a permit, you need to be publicly flogged with a shit-dipped cat-o-9-tails.

Can I "lightly smack" a truculent trainee who doesn't prioritise my work?  Why is it illegal to assault someone of my own size but it's fine to beat a small child?

The arguments that it was within a man's right to discipline his wife were trotted out in much the same way as Clergs now seeks to defend those hitting children. Before that the same arguments were used to justify beating servants and before that slaves.

With time people have come to accept all those were wrong and with time people will look back with bemusement at how we could be so cruel as to hit our children.

fooks me off when you see parents outside of school screaming at kids because they're late and the kid is being slow. 

The kid is too young to tell the time. You as the parent are in charge. Get up fooking earlier and don't be so rushed and stressy. You know kids are in the clouds, sort your fooking schedule out and don't take it out on the kids 

I was smacked loads as a child (at least twice a day). She broke my finger with a frying pan - though I deserved that tbf

 

Thing is my mum seems so nice now, can't imagine her doing it. 

It was a fooking stupid thing for her to do as it didn't  make a blind bit of difference 

I don't think a child can do anything that merits a parent hitting them with a frying pan to break their finger.  Clergham, the fact that you think they can, speaks volumes. 

“Why is it illegal to assault someone of my own size but it's fine to beat a small child?”

WELL YOU OWN THE CHILD: ITS YOUR PROPERTY SO ITS UP TO YOU IF YOU WANT TO HIT IT

NOT TERRIBLY HARD TO UNDERSTAND THE DISTINCTION I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT

I am also musing on the logistics of a frying pan as a finger breaker.  It does seem as more of a facial assault weapon a la Vic and Bob.  Using the flat side to break a finger rather than bruise it would take incredible force.  She must have used the side in a downward swipe - a le crusset would certainly break a small child's digit is applied thus.  

The knowing it’s not funny and still doing it is part of the pathology tho. All attention is good attention, never miss an opportunity to shout at the haters etc. 

he said "thought I deserved it".  Past tense.  In any case, a good many victims of abuse consider that their abuser was driven to do it. Even years later, the guilt can make this belief unshakable. 

No it was funny. I was 16, girlfriend missed period, told mum I was having a kid, she was holding a frying pan and went to hit me, it hit my hand. 

 

Next day girlfriend came on her period 

So the next time [insert name of randomly offending person] is late, they should just ask their partners mum to hit them with a frying pan?

tbf I’d pay to see that. 

bam I cannot make further attempts at amusing comments because someone who wasn't there and doesn't know if it really happened has become OUTRAGED ON THE INTERNET.

I am sure the daily mail and the CIA will shortly be doorstepping your old dear

Poor yung bam

I think it's notable that the people most likely to be aggro on this topic are also the most likely to have actually hit someone. I cannot imagine bam ever hits people (except with sweet legal pwns).

It did really happen. I'm sure ive mentioned it on here before. 

 

I thought I'd tell my mum when she was cooking because she's relaxed when cooking but didn't account for her being in the vicinity of weapons. 

All my mates from school/ our block were Ghanaian or Nigerian or mixed race and compared to some of the punishments they got from their mums I got off really lightly.

 

It was all just seen as being really funny. Whose mum was the most vicious 

I must say that I was always a bit meh on this topic prior to having kids - clergs was like you thinking oh well there are times when I understand. Now I have them I’m actually much more clear that under no circumstances should you be hitting your kid. It’s a total loss of control as a parent and it’s utterly unacceptable. 

 

I amon board with it being unacceptable, TC,I just don't think good parents would ever do it out of choice (ie it's an automatic response when rational thought is impossible) so I struggle with the idea of a response that effectively punishes the entire family for the long term.

I think people who can in cold blood meet out physical punishment to children (or anyone) are psychopaths and should be in prison 

most parents either have or have felt tempted to smack a toddler who is getting on your last nerve. 

Its a sub optimal loss of control but the former is infinitely worse 

I agree nowadays. Could never in a million years imagine hitting one of my kids (I'd break a bone)

 

However not going to judge my mum about it. She was surrounded by parents did the same, I was probably a little aunt, she had to protect my childhood from loads of bad stuff and she had the stress of us losing our flat and being dead poor. 

 

In my life clouds are candy floss and time is plentiful. I'm not going to judge her and certainly not going to call her a psycho.  

 

 

Whilst I wouldn't have said I was anti-smacking pre-children, I can't imagine ever hitting them.

I have a lot of sympathy for Clergs' view - I'm in a very privileged position and am the part time parent so don't as a whole have to deal with them at their worst (actually maybe not quite true as my wife does think they play up more around me from an attention perspective).

But we've shown with drink driving that you genuinely can shift public behaviours by criminalising things that were once seen as part of life.  There will be some shitty edge cases where good lives get ruined - but that is kind of where we are whilst we tolerate smacking of young children.

 

I meant someone who does the whole wait till your father gets home when he then administers a thrashing 

Like corporal punishment was at school (which is why it was so awful)

I think people who can in cold blood meet out physical punishment to children (or anyone) are psychopaths and should be in prison 

I CAN ASSURE YOU ITS FOR THEIR OWN GOOD

AND, IF ANYTHING, IT HURTS THEM LESS THAN IT HURTS ME

IT REALLY DOES.

the law probably does need to be tightened up tbf but its not realistic to say a child should have the same protection from 'assault' as a grown up.  I have never hit my kids but I have in the past dragged my son out of places with him hitting me and screaming (he had massive tantrums as a toddler) and I have physically put both of my kids back on the naughty step (or into bed) when they have got off it and done so the in the face of some resistance from them. 

I have a lot of sympathy for parents who have smacked their kids in that sort of melt down scenario.  I think if I was a physically smaller person I might very well have done. 

I am inclined to agree that there should be an absolute ban on corporal punishment (i.e. pain being deliberately inflicted after the event as a punishment).  It's not going to always be easy to draw clear lines but I do think as a concept that ought to be clearly marked out as unacceptable. 

Rhamnousia 03 Oct 19 12:52

It's not about smacking being ideal child rearing, it's about understanding the reality of parenting for some people.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Absolutely 

It's why we're so tolerant of nurses punching dementia patients, not ideal care but those doddering old duffers are exhausting and need a slap to get them moving sometimes, everyone understands that losing your temper and physically abusing someone much much weaker than you is completely justified because reasons

sumo, there are plenty of awful things (legal and otherwise) that people choose to do every day despite knowing that it could hurt another person, maybe even someone they love. When those are CHOICES it is easy to condemn them. Despite knowing that everyone is fallible, we do that for the good of society.

When they are not choices personally I think it is more difficult.

it is a choice to punch or not punch a baby

children react to be raised well and having routine, if you are not a great parent for whatever reason (i.e. through no fault of your own you have no support network, you are poorly prepared, your state of residence treats kids with utter contempt and as disposable backdrops at best) then you will have "naughty" kids

but that failure does not give anyone a green light to just whack a kid to make up for past mistakes in how the kid has developed

Tbf you never really know if you would hit a child until they run at you full tilt and headbutt you in the balsac.  Or playfully jab you with an epipen.  Or reverse headbutt you right in the balsac.

Or break your nose by throwing you an aerobie or  give you the norovirus they have taken home from school or hit you in the balsac with a rugby ball or plunked your plunked with a petanque

I think every person on this thread saying the idea of ever ever ever smacking a child under any circumstances is abhorrent and automatically makes someone a terrible parent should have to declare how many children they have and how old they are 

just to close this one down - Brendon O'Neill has just wrote a defence of smacking in Spiked claiming it's an act of love.  He also confides he was regularly smacked as a child and it made him the man he is today.

 

The prosecution rests.