Quote:
Originally posted by johnny:
Well, you know my point of view. But if you don't mind, i didn't vote. You blow this thing way out of proportions, and the poll seemed a bit weird to me as well.
All that fuss because some people slap their kids on the butt when they deserve it, sheesh.
|
Well Johnny, I deliberated attempted (as best as I could) to ensure that the questions were not 'trolling' - and I was genuinely trying to find exactly what people mean by a 'smack' and what they believe is appropriate, esp. for the more serious acts of misbehaviour.
For example, let's say that 8 year old junior is refusing to to tidy up his room. For the third time, Mama goes up to him, bends down and says: "That's it - you either do it now or you are really for it". Junior shouts "NO!" and punches mama square on the nose (in a fit of rage). Junior has certainly earned the most severe punishment on the parent's penal code - but what exactly can that be? These days, an awful lot of parents and carers have been convicted of common assault and labeled as "abusers" for disciplining their kids.
Now I do *not* consider someone who uses physical punishment as a disciplinary tool as an 'abuser'. I might disagree with the form of punishment but I *DO* recognise that those parents do it for love - they want to teach their kids what is right and what is wrong. A little bit of feedback from other folk might just help, esp. in today's world where the legal lines are becoming blurred.
Here's a couple of interesting from a study conducted by the Scottish Parliament while it was formulating a new law and is about to come into force. From what I know of the new legislation, it has taken general parental opinion as found in the study to qualify as non-abusive behaviour - and everything else outside it to be 'abusive'.
[i]"When respondents were asked how much they would say they knew or understood about the current law on smacking in Scotland, four out of five parents said that they knew either ‘not very much’ (62%) or ‘nothing at all’ (18%). Just 2% said they knew ‘a great deal’ and 17% ‘quite a lot’ about the current law."
..."There was strong support for the aspects of the legislation related to shaking, hitting around the face or head or use of an implement. Parents are not only much less likely to use such methods, they see them much more clearly as ‘abusive’."
The full study which does not draw conclusions on the rights and wrongs of the issue but instead details Scottish parental attitudes makes for a very interesting read:
DISCIPLINING CHILDREN:
RESEARCH WITH PARENTS IN SCOTLAND