Hitting children

[cutekitty]

I thought this would be an interesting topic to discuss. What are your views on hitting children when they've done something wrong? I'm against it myself. I don't see why you have to hurt and humiliate your child just to teach them a lesson. Reasoning is much better. I have never been hit by my parents in my life and I turned out fine.

[honeybunny]

I think a smack on the hand is ok, as long as it's not too hard. That way it lets the child know they've done wrong and that little amount of pain they recieve from the smack will make them think before they decide whether or not to do whatever they did that was naughty again.

[heroic]

^I agree. Just a little smack on the hand could probably ingrain the discipline on the child that he might have lacked on that occasion. It shouldn't be hard, so as not to scar him physically or emotionally. Just enough to know that flouting the rules shall have its consequences. But you should also be ready to explain to the child what he'd done wrong and why he received the slap. Punishment without explanation does not rehabilitate, after all.

Reasoning is also okay, however sometimes when a child is too young, logic will sometimes escape him. As much as it would hurt the disciplinarian and the child, a simple (not too hard) smack will be a more concrete reminder.

[~♥Alexa♥~]

I don't like it personally, I can see the arguement for it but it just scares the child. I think it's better to tell the child off and sanction them some other way, explaining why they're being told off so they learn from it.

[cutekitty]

I don't like it personally, I can see the arguement for it but it just scares the child. I think it's better to tell the child off and sanction them some other way, explaining why they're being told off so they learn from it.

Exactly! I can understand that a young child perhaps won't understand reasoning, but giving them a good smack doesn't do much either. It doesn't help them understand that what they've done is wrong.

[Lulu]

I think a little smack is okay if the kid's done something bad, because it teaches them that they WILL be punished for doing wrong. On the other hand, my mum smacked me so hard across the head a while ago I seriously think if I'd hit the wall I'd have been concussed...that's taking it a bit far.

[I Love Danny Jones]

in my psychocolgy class. says its bad becasue they could learn that behavior and most people wont jsut stick to hitting the hand a bit =/

[thesneaky]

I agree with Katrina, heroic and Lulu.
I'm not talking a whack across the head every time they step out if line, just a smack occasionally when they've crossed the line. Kids are too young to be reasoned with, and a hit every once in awhile when they've done wrong is just a form of discipline to keep them inline.

[fadedhearts]

I think that it is bad to hit children if they had done something wrong. It's better if we tell them that thye have done something wrong instead of spanking them.

[Hayles x x]

I don't think anyone should hit a child no matter what, it is only encouraging them to hit other children. Parents have the responsibility of teaching children right from wrong, hitting them is only encouraging the child to hit oters so i think it's wrong.

[Lissie]

hayley said:

I don't think anyone should hit a child no matter what, it is only encouraging them to hit other children. Parents have the responsibility of teaching children right from wrong, hitting them is only encouraging the child to hit oters so i think it's wrong.

I agree with you Hayley. And who is to judge what "a little smack" is anyway? When have you crossed the line so it's more than a "little smack"?

[heroic]

Um I guess your inherent tactile sense should tell when something's going to hurt. I think when you "hit" a child to reprimand, you shouldn't do it when you're not being rational or if you're angry. Because you have to make them understand that it's not done because you hate them, but because you want them to know that what they've done is wrong. Besides if you're angry you're only bound to really hurt the child. You have to have presence of mind when you're dealing with children anyway.

Okay, honestly I haven't truly hit a child and I've only always spoken to them but I'm not totally against giving a little hand slap if someone thinks the child needs it providing that the rationale is explained afterwards. It's like aversion therapy. You shouldn't do it all the time, just as a last recourse and not too hard.

[thesneaky]

People make too big a deal of this whole hitting kids thing anyway. I'm not saying that people should go around hitting kids into oblivion, there is a line obviously.
It's just, a little smack every now and again isn't going to deeply scar the kid. I don't want my kid growing up to be a rat with no discipline. My parents hit me when I deserved it, and do you see me knocking out kids when they annoy me? Do I seem unstable?

I don't think parents should hit other people's kids though. That definetly isn't a line that should be crossed. I couach a netball team of 7 and 8 year olds and they annoy the nuts out of me, but I would never, ever touch them.

[[S]ophie_x]

I'm against this because some young kids have extremely mean parents, who will tell them off nearly everyday. I understand that some people think a slap teaches discipline, but WORDS are better than slap. Telling a child off will make them understand, but a slap can seriously hurt them and make them scared. I do agree with some of those who say that you get annoyed but don't touch the child. I have a younger brother who annoys me everyday, but i do hit him. Then it turns into a fight, but it's what brothers and sister's do!

[thesneaky]

Oh. I hit my brother. It doesn't teach him a lesson, he just hits me back. It's what we do.