Ministers are considering getting tough with parents who use too much force when smacking their children. The over-stern disciplinarian may face jail. But, should the rod be spared? Children's Express journalists gave their views to the Sunday Express.
| Kids do what their parents do. If they smack, you will too. |
Lindsay Marchant, 16, Newcastle
Smacking gets you nowhere. All kids have to do now is dial an emergency number, call the police out and prosecute whoever smacked them. Im against smacking but if a child has done something to their brothers, sisters, parents or pets, they should get a slap across the wrist.
With young kids, all you need to do is smack them on the back of the hand and say bad. Its not right to smack with weapons or objects. You could scar a kid for life or do some serious damage inside their body. You could even break their bones. Thats against the law.
Young people should be taught how to respect their elders. If they dont, they just need to be smacked on the hand or sent to their room and made to go to bed with no supper.
Its not right to slap teenagers. Theyre not going to be told what to do by anyone anyway. All theyre going to do is resent you. Teenagers know right from wrong whereas little toddlers dont. Ive been hit but it didnt work I just tortured my mum instead: I didnt talk to her for weeks on end.
Ben Feder, 13, London
Its not the actual smacking that hurts but the idea that your parents have hit you. If a parent resorts to smacking, theyre getting desperate. They are not a good parent because they cant cope with looking after children.
On TV, some parents say I only smacked my kids because they were fighting and wouldnt stop. But if you smack your children when theyre in a fight, it wont actually do anything except make them angry and worsen the situation. Violence at home encourages violence at school and violence in their own homes as adults.
Its humiliating to be smacked on your bare bottom as some parents do when youre little. Some children run away from home at a younger age or behave really badly because theyre being hit at home. Smacking, pinching and slapping on the wrist, face or bottom are all out of order.
Sara Hawkins, 15, Sheffield
Children should be punished up to a certain age. While theyre young they need to be taught, but being punished harshly is wrong. A slight slap on the hand is enough to make the child aware of what he or she has done wrong.
At my age, smacking will never work. If my parents smacked me, Id feel resentful and rebel. I would own up to anything Id done wrong ever again as Id worry about getting hurt.
When I was young, I was sometimes punished with a quick slap on the hand but then my parents would sit me down and tell me the reason why Id just been hit. I didnt mind being slapped but when I explained the reason why, it annoyed me more than the slap itself.
When my parents lose their tempers with me now, they just have a go at me. Occasionally, when they really lose their tempers, Ill get a quick smack but nothing too painful. At the time it makes me angry, so I isolate myself from them until I can feel I can forgive them, even though it was me who caused the problem in the first place.
Bryony Hope, 11, London
Grownups should know better than to smack. If children cant get away with hitting, then why should adults? Smacking can emotionally harm you but if youre sent to bed, youre being disciplined but you feel safe.
A lot of parents smack their children but quite a few only do it as a last resort. When I was really small my parents only hit me when I was really, really naughty or when I couldnt understand any other way.
Everyones seen domestic violence on TV it makes you feel terrible. When parents smack their children, they lose their respect. If youre smacked, youre in such a state you think about what your parents have done to you rather than what you did wrong in the first place. Id rather be grounded for a week than smacked for a couple of seconds. Grounding goes on for longer and you might sulk for a week but at least it doesnt hurt.
If one adult hits another they can be put in prison but an adult hitting a child can get away with it. Because it is only a child, they arent respected in the courts or by the police. Hitting can scar a child. Parents are supposed to be loving people who care for you and keep you safe. No one should ever hit each other.
Jonathan Hudson, 12, Birmingham
Smacking is wrong. Adults cant hit other adults, so they shouldnt hit kids. I was smacked when I was 11 because I swore at my mum, so I deserved it. But I was in a shop once and a little kid couldnt have a chocolate bar so he cried and his mum smacked him really hard. That was wrong because there was no good reason.
Before these new government laws on smacking, parents could do anything to their children even if it was wrong. Now children have the same rights as adults. If a child is in pain after a smack, it was too hard.
Being smacked makes you depressed. You should never hit anybody with anything like a slipper or a belt because thats like using a weapon.
Kids do what their parents do. If they smack, you will too. When Im a dad Ill ground my kids or take away their privileges like TV and chocolate.
Kids who are hit a lot probably think that hitting other kids is the best way to sort out their problems.
Cenk Ceki, 12, London
A tap on the hand is fine is a young kid is out of order but theres a huge difference between a tap and a smack. Some adults use a smack when only a tap is needed. Adults dont know how much theyre hurting children in some cases its painful physically and emotionally.
Theres no point in smacking your child. There are more peaceful ways to punish than punching them. Stopping kids pocket money would teach them a lesson. Smacking is over the line, too extreme. If you ground them they wont do it again, but smack them and theyll be emotionally scarred. Hitting your child isnt setting a good example for when your child has children because then it carries on and on. Theyll think thats the right way of disciplining a child.
Children cant protect themselves like adults. A child going to the police and saying my parents hit me would be difficult because its only the childs word against the word of two adults. And children dont have the same rights as adults.
If you were constantly smacked you would eventually be scared to go home. Smacking is wrong, full stop.
About the team
This article was produced by the Children's Express members named above. It was published in the Sunday Express.
