Rebel backbench MPs have lost their bid for an all-out ban on smacking in England and Wales. In a Commons vote, a proposal to change the Children Bill to include an outright ban was defeated by 424 votes to 75.
However a Lords amendment which outlaws smacks that leave marks or cause mental harm was allowed.
Do you think parents should have the right to smack their children? Will the bill reduce abuse? Are children's rights effectively protected by the laws of the country?
This debate is now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.
The following comments reflect the balance of opinion we have received so far:
 | SUGGEST A DEBATE This topic was suggested by Nat, UK  Why does the government feel it needs to pass a Bill on outlawing smacking of children?  |
Children should never be smacked. It gives them the message that violence is OK and children copy. Most bullies have been smacked as children. As a therapist most of the people I see have problems which started in very young childhood from mistreatment by parents.
Lizzie, Evesham, UK
Political correctness and the 'nanny' state mentality needs to take its rightful place in society - namely behind common sense! Parents should always have the right to discipline their child as they see fit within reason, not least because a certain level of discipline is required to establish what are clear acceptable boundaries of behaviour in society. How ironic it is therefore that these 'do-gooders' who want to ban smacking are probably the very same people who complain about the yob culture of today's youth. Wake up!
Stephen Little, Edinburgh, UK
The impression I get from the comments published is that the majority of people want the Government to allow parents to be parents, not mere tools of the State. With that in mind, and assuming that this is a representative viewpoint, shouldn't MPs listen to what the people want? Haven't they been elected to serve, not to rule?
Gareth, Bermuda
A lot of people here do not realise that many adults cannot or do not distinguish between what counts as a 'mild smack' and something much worse. My dad used to hit me when I did things wrong. I was terrified of him at the time and am still scarred by it. My father, however, maintains that it was just normal discipline.
Anon, England
For goodness sake! Does this government really have nothing better to do than waste time on hunting, smacking and grubbing more money for allowances? Of course beating anyone up (or anything) is to be condemned but we have enough legislation already, thank you.
Roger, Leatherhead, UK
Yes, smacking hurts, but it also works to discipline children. I have seen clearly the difference between the thugs who are responsible for all out crime, and the law-abiding citizens of this country. The latter learnt right from wrong thanks to decent discipline. Smacking should be moderate and a last resort, rather than banned outright.
Sayem Rahman, Lancaster, England The government should worry about more important issues i.e. the Iraq conflict and leave the bringing up of children to the parents.
Tony, USA
I have two 'spirited' children under three and have never felt the need to smack them. There are more intelligent and effective ways of disciplining a child. However, I feel that how my husband and I discipline our children is our choice. I don't believe that berating parents for a tap on the legs will stop those cruel people who physically and mentally abuse children, as openly smacking is not what they are about. Mental abuse does not leave marks and bruises nor does neglect and indifference, the care of children who suffer in this way should also be the focus of attention!
Julie Taylor, Harrow, England
There is always an alternative to smacking. Talk to the child or don't give them sweets or let them watch TV. There is never a need to smack a small child who does not under stand what they have done.
Sean Phillips, Kidderminster
As a registered childminder, I care for up to 6 children aged under 8 at any one time. I am not allowed to smack them, nor would I want to do so. I use positive methods to successfully discipline the children in my care. Surely parents with only one or two children can manage without resorting to physical violence.
Julie, UK
| The law at the moment is very vague and open to interpretation |
I am a police child protection officer. The law at the moment is very vague and open to interpretation and could do with reform, but it should not be changed to ban smacking altogether. So long as no injury is caused, physical punishment should not be a crime. In any event, if it WERE criminalised, the police would never take any action over it ("not in the public interest"). It would simply generate paperwork as we completed reports to justify those decisions.
Neil, London Smacking is symptomatic of bad parenting. You should have established effective ways to communicate and reprimand your child without hitting them. It's got nothing to do with a 'nanny state', it's to do with the rights of kids not to be slapped by parents who can't be bothered to try and communicate in other ways.
Cliff, (child psychologist), Bristol
There seem to be a good many people posting who are missing the point. "Spoiled" or "delinquent" children are not the result of not being smacked by their parents. They are the result of neglect or inconsistent discipline. And discipline DOES NOT have to equate to physical punishment. A child can be punished without resorting to smacking.
Jeff, Indiana, USA
No, don't smack the children. Don't sell them crisps. Don't sell them sweeties. Just let the Government tell you what you should and should not do when it comes to your life. After all, everyone is clearly incapable of making their own decisions and being responsible for them. NB: If we really need a law to tell us what the difference between abuse and smacking is, Lord help us.
Craig Miller, Basingstoke
| One small step in redressing that imbalance |
Justice and the legal system in Britain evolved down the centuries to protect the interests and power base of the establishment so traditionally we have punished crimes against property far more harshly than crimes of violence. Banning the smacking of children will be one small step in redressing that imbalance making our legal code slightly more relevant to all the people not just the privileged few.
Anon, Edinburgh, UK What's next, no shouting at your children in case they become emotionally scarred? Smacking has always been a last resort method of teaching a child they are in the wrong. There is a fine line between smacking a child and child abuse but smacking a child should not be banned.
Ryan, Cardiff, Wales
How could it possibly be enforced? Shouldn't that question be answered before the law is passed? We have all learned what happens when politicians act first and plan later!
Jennifer, USA
An outright ban is the only workable solution - why should children have less protection from assault than adults?
Sarah Jackson, London
Smacking children isn't wrong. From a young age children need to know what is right and what isn't, and until anyone out there finds a way of rationalising with a screaming two-year-old, smacking will have to do. Obviously you don't pick up a child and beat them, there are proper ways of doing things. What's next? Stopping parents from making their children "think about what they've done" or stopping them from being grounded on grounds of mental abuse? My parents used to smack me as a kid and I seem to have turned out perfectly fine. I don't see what the problem with all this is. You're really making a mountain out of a molehill.
Nick, Cape Town, South Africa
What the anti-smacking lobby need to understand is that the proposed changes in the law as they stand will not prevent the abuse they are concerned with. The distinction being made is leaving a mark/permanent damage. Intelligent parents (of whom I hope to be one, being pregnant with my first child) already practice the kind of effective and acceptable physical punishment which the government would find legal. The kind of real, cruel and damaging abuse of children which those who are concerned for young people's welfare should really be worried about, will carry on whether an outright ban is introduced or not.
Rebecca Berridge, Deal, UK Discipline and respect can be instilled in children without physically abusing them, but smacking is necessary and is not abuse as long as reasonable force is used. It's the threat of a smack, not the smack itself that usually works. If government agencies pass laws to prevent smacking how do they propose reducing numbers on young offenders lists? How do they propose protecting elderly and other members of society from the increasing numbers of delinquents? We must all work together to prevent child abuse but over reacting to smacks is not the way.
Suzanne, Ireland
I worked for years with abused and neglected children. Many of my staff would make comments like "She just needs a good spanking". These were "out-of-control" children and I, at times, wished I could reach out and smack a few of them. Thankfully, we were not allowed to touch them at all. We always found ways to deal with them without laying a hand on them. I think a better alternative to making rules banning people's rights to raise their kids would be to educate them. You can start in schools when children are young. If the government wants to really get involved, educate, educate, educate
Nikki, South Carolina, USA
I belive that banning smacking will not stop child abuse. But by banning smacking it does draw an absolute line that violence is morally wrong. Unfortunately we don't have laws based upon morals but on property rights. Children are seen as property of their parents therefore they can smack them. I don't believe banning smacking will end it effectively, but it will support and promote children's rights.
Mike Allman, Pontardawe - Wales
It's time to give all of society the value that hitting children is wrong. That children should have the same rights as any adult. Isn't it time that parents stated to learn how to discipline their children without smacking?
Jack, Cowes, Isle of Wight
| I'm nearly 40 and my Mum still tells me I'm not too old for a smack across the back of the legs! |
I'm nearly 40 and my Mum still tells me I'm not too old for a smack across the back of the legs! It never did me or my brother any harm, we grew up knowing right from wrong thanks to the discipline and guidance from our parents.
Amanda, Bristol, S Glos I believe that children absolutely should not be smacked. What does it say about a country when we do not uphold basic children's rights. It is punishable by law when an adult hits another adult, why is it not so in the adult child situation.
Alexandra Long, Leeds
Decent parents should be able to discipline children without exercising their right to smack. Furthermore, it is generally observable that parents who do use violence don't achieve healthy discipline. How can parents teach their children not to be violent to others when their means of asserting authority is violent?
Aarash Saleh, Manchester, UK
What kind of future will Britain have, raising a generation of children who know they can't be forced to obey any rules? If parents are allowed to discipline children using only persuasive rhetoric, we're all in a lot of trouble.
Lee, Wales
Stiff as board, screaming, 'Weeties, mummy!', the force of her 'terrible twos' temper was pushing her buggie over backwards towards the concrete pavement. So angry and determined was my little daughter that, petite and 5, I couldn't lift her and no amount of reasoning or cajoling would persuade her to calm down. What would those who are against smacking have done? Aggressively force her rigid frame back into her buggy? Allow her to topple, head first onto the pavement? Forcefully hold onto her - using far more aggression than a restrained smack would involve? With sadness, I smacked her leg and her tantrum stopped. I still feel guilty for it 20 years on. But I still can't imagine what else I could have done. Can you?
Colleen Morrison, Harlow, England What is it with this Government? Bans on hunting, smoking and now dictating how parents bring up their children? Keep out of our lives!
Steve, Pontypridd, Wales
Smacking should not be banned, but it should always be the method of last resort. There are situations where a child will simply not listen, or will ignore reason.
Chris Leeson, London, UK
I don't think there's anything wrong giving a child a slap on the back of the legs when they're misbehaving. I haven't been mentally scarred. In fact it probably hurt my mum's hand more than it did me!
Jan Mountford, Stanford-le-Hope, Essex
Tony Blair's 'common sense' solution is best in my opinion. Giving parents the right to raise their children in the best way they deem fit has worked until now. If children know they cannot be disciplined, how are they possibly expected to know right from wrong?
Mark Love, Leeds, England
| Who is going to police such a law? |
Aren't there more important things in this country that we have to worry about? I don't have children but am constantly being annoyed by children's rowdy behaviour due to their every whim being pandered to. Besides, who is going to police such a law?
Hazel, Birmingham, UK Anti-social behaviour can be attributed in part to the cavalier attitude toward teaching the difference between right and wrong to children by parents. You then enter the slippery slopes of yobs rearing yobs. It may come as a shock to this government, but the responsibility of raising one's family lies with the parents not the government. In any case, child abuse is already on offence and this bill will not stop abuse.
Cyril Preece, Tamworth, UK
The right of a parent to discipline their child by smacking them has nothing at all to do with abuse. The government that sits in session paid by our taxes would be far better employed ensuring a crack down on internet paedophiles rather than this sort of idiotic nonsense peddled largely by childless self-appointed moral guardians of society.
Dan, UK
I was smacked as a child and it made me afraid of my father. I don't want my children to be scared of me and as I result I feel quite strongly against smacking. You want your children to respect you and not fear you. I have smacked my children and I felt so ashamed about it afterwards I resolved never to do it again. Smacking children does not improve their behaviour but only makes them resent their parents, there are more sensible ways of disciplining a child. Having said that is an outright ban really enforceable? I don't think so
Paul Lowery, Thames Ditton You only have to look in the papers every day to see the result of poor discipline at home. Kids are growing up knowing they can't be touched my any authority. Banning Smacking will not stop child abuse, but it will breed more yobs. It's high time schools and parents were allowed reasonable chastisement. The do-gooders are ruining our society !
Chris, Aberdeen, Scotland
In Norway it is illegal to hit a child. I'm a Brit living here, and have 2 small children. I don't believe it is necessary to smack a child to as a punishment; there are many alternatives to inflicting physical pain. If you show a child violence, then they will see violence as being a normal way of dealing with problems. By being consistent and firm in discipline, and using a range of measures, including rewards for good behaviour, we've never had any cause to hit our children. Yes they can be frustrating at times, but hitting them seems to me more of a relief mechanism for parents than a means of disciplining a child. I'm far more comfortable with the youth culture in Scandinavia than the one of left behind in UK.
Chris, Oslo, Norway
| Smacking is not the best approach |
Violence teaches violence. Legislation, however, is inappropriate for the reason each parent/child relationship is different. However it is right to send a very clear message that smacking is not the best approach and should be a last resort.
Jon, London A short sharp smack is acceptable, no more no less. Children that know no boundaries will never grow up a fair rounded individual.
Elaine, Ayelsbury, UK
I do not believe that the government has any right to tell me how I should discipline my children. They are there to run the country.. NOT my family. Having said that, I used to resort to smacking my child when he was naughty... but this just led to him smacking me back! In the end, we would exclude him when he was naughty... we would put him in a play pen with no toys and ignore him for five minutes. This was much more successful.
Andreas Selwood, Maidenhead, UK
So society continues to spiral down out of control! No-one would advocate abuse but there are times when a small slap is appropriate. It's no good saying reason with them if the child does not have language skills sufficient to do so.
John T, Canterbury UK
I think parents should have the right to decide how to punish their children. I, myself, feel smacking is too extreme although I don't feel I have the right to interfere with the upbringing of a child. Children need discipline, though, and this lack of punishment is having a resounding effect on all of society. If only schools hadn't lost their ability to punish pupils.
Stephanie Smith, Southampton How would this law be made to work in the home? CCTV in every room linked to the local police station? A hotline for smacked children to inform on their parents. The government should concentrate on providing support and, yes, training for parents to help them in bringing their kids up rather than dictating to them with an unworkable law
Dave Smart, Moira, UK
I continually receive complements from people about how well-behaved and polite my two sons are. Guess what? They sometimes get spankings when they wilfully disobey me or my wife. Sometimes time-outs work, but when you've tried everything else and they are still misbehaving, then you have to do something to get through to them.
Richard L, Arkansas, USA
All children are different and if you have a well behaved child who understands right from wrong with a few stern words then lucky you. But there are some parents who haven't. In some cases smacking is a necessary evil.
Simon Fairclough, Copenhagen, Denmark.
I have smacked my son once - for biting me. Should I have taken him to court?
Andrew, UK
| It's easy to spot those without children by their comments!! |
It's easy to spot those without children by their comments!! Completely distant from reality. Anyway, if the will of the majority is to be enforced (argument used for ending fox hunting), then the will of the majority should be enforced here. By the comments on this board, it is clear the majority see no need for another law and see nothing wrong with 'reasonable chastisement'.
Mike, Brighton
Of course parents should have the right to smack their children and so should anyone to whom the parents delegate the authority. It is bad enough in this country now, where teachers have no way of controlling unruly pupils and gangs of youths cause trouble because they know that there is nothing that anyone can do to stop them. The buck stops with the parents and if this law goes through, God help our society.
Eric, Coventry, UK
Great idea, ban smacking and treat all children as mini adults. I'll be able to sue my two year old for ripping my books and scrawling on the walls. She'll have to go and get a "mini adult" job and all will be well.
Pete, Kingwinford
I don't see any problem at all in slapping your child. Children today have little or no respect for authority or property the nanny state is just getting out of hand. A caring parent isn't allowed to teach their kid right from wrong but it seems ok for kids to hang about street corners chucking fireworks at the elderly.
Matt, Watford
Debra of Southampton reckons "dog training ideas have progressed further than parenting" - yes, but is a dog likely to grow from a petulant and unruly "toddler" into the kind of thug that (bearing in mind the time of year) throws fireworks through letterboxes and smashes windows as a "trick or treat" prank on elderly and infirm people? I have had experience of both within the family during the last week and I know which "species" I'd rather punish by a good slapping!
Graham , Greater Manchester, UK
I am entirely in agreement with most who have submitted their views below, especially one from Mr. Ron Milligan (Gosport, England). If majority of British population does not want this ban, I am indeed amazed why some Labour back-benchers are so keen on total ban. I am sure they have not thought of what a parent should do to curb unruly and anti-social acts of teenagers who may grow with the knowledge that a smack or even a suggestion of one, will make their parents criminal. Yes, I can see a nanny state in support of future nanny state legislations.
Prabhat, UK
If a smack is not a reasoned response by a parent but instead acted out in anger I believe I would class it as abuse.
Kevin, London
| Everyone agrees it's not right to hit the elderly, even when they are slow and deaf |
Everyone agrees it's not right to hit the elderly, even when they are slow and deaf. It is not right to hit the mentally disabled, even when they refuse to do what they are asked, and cannot seem to understand simple instructions. It is not right to hit someone who works for you, even though they are in your charge. So how can it possibly be right to hit a child? I was beaten by my mother for every infraction of the rules. It taught me one thing only...to get your own way, use violence.
Elizabeth, England I wasn't smacked often, but my parents exercised their right when necessary, and I wholeheartedly agree with preservation of that right. My worst smacking was when I was very young, for running across the road in front of a car and narrowly avoiding injury or death. A sound smacking meant I never did that again, and so probably saved my life! I'm sure most people would agree that an open-handed slap on the bottom or thigh is perfectly reasonable, but that a closed-fist attack, or an attack on any other part of the body is most definitely wrong.
Corran, Newcastle, UK
The lack of discipline especially in homes but also in schools is partly the reason for the current "yob culture" we have in Britain. The kids know that there is not a lot that can be done to them. If smacking is banned it is just going to get worse and no one will be able to stop the vandalism and general crime because the kids will be out of control.
D. Blake, London
I have never smacked any of my children and never will. My children are not saints but they are respectful and polite because we treat each other with respect in our house. Because of that they know how to respect others. Parents who say there is no other way are lacking in imagination and it is the child who pays for that.
Raymond, Coventry
Smacking is another name for hitting. The phrase 'mild smacking' disguises the inequality children face. Most adults would not accept that people in authority over them should be allowed to "mildly smack" them. Children deserve exactly the same legal protection from being hit that adults take for granted.
Alison Shephard, Cardiff, Wales Another law that cannot be enforced, like the ban of fireworks and on the spot fines for Anti-Social Behaviour. Older children already say 'you can't hit me mister, I will get the law on you', as they graffiti your property or steal your belongings.
Kevin, Peterborough
I do not believe that a total ban will make any difference to the children who are systematically abused by their parents. One has only to see what has happened in schools since a total ban on corporate punishment was introduced in terms of unacceptable behaviour. The right to allow mild smacking must be retained.
Roger Haigh, Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Parents must retain the right to discipline their children. There is a clear distinction between a controlled smack to punish a wrong doing as opposed to blatant physical abuse. It's just common sense.
Colin Gooding, Lowestoft UK
| The people who already abuse children aren't going to stop because a new law has been passed |
I was smacked as a child and see absolutely nothing wrong with sensible, rational parents using smacking as a means of chastising a naughty child. There are so many young hooligans out there now, perhaps if they'd been taught the difference between right and wrong at an early age they'd never have developed that way. Besides, banning smacking will only prevent rational parents from using this form of punishment sensibly - the people who already abuse children aren't going to stop because a new law has been passed - what they do is already illegal!
Jo, Hoddesdon, UK I suspect the next step is to outlaw grounding a child as illegal imprisonment or emotional torture. This is a gross abuse of government power, where it does not belong!
Bill, Essex
Smacking is pointless. At acceptable levels, it doesn't accomplish anything, and at unacceptable levels, it's, well, unacceptable. I'm in favour of a ban, since it may help prevent "some" unacceptable abuse of this 'right'.
Tom Melly, London, UK
I was smacked mildly as a child. I remember being about 7 years old and realising a smack on the bottom didn't hurt anymore, my brother and I ended up laughing about it which caused my mum to laugh and she never smacked us again after that. Some children don't know the rights and wrongs of their actions so I see no wrong in a quick smack for discipline. To ban smacking outright will not going to stop child abuse, it will just mean more child abuse cases reported as the media will add their spin on it.
Lee Cottington, London, England
| Normal families know the difference and don't need a law |
Look what has happened since smacking was banned in schools, no respect, no control, children knowing the have the upper hand. If parents cannot smack their children, children they will soon pick up that they can threaten to call the police if they do get a smack. There will be even more disruptive children around. It will not stop child abuse because they do not abide by the laws already in place now. Normal families know the difference and don't need a law.
Janine Clark, UK How do the government plan to police this? There is a chronic shortage of social workers and I worry this may divert them from children being molested or seriously hurt.
Paula Williams, Portsmouth , Hants
Is everyone that contributes to this page a thug? If you were disagreeing with an adult on something you'd hardly hit them would you? As soon as it's a small child however, that's ok? It seems like a perverse logic to me. Violence leads to violence and it just teaches children that hitting is an acceptable way to settle an argument. Maybe children in the 80's and 90's were hit too much, Mike from High Wycombe - of course smacking should be banned.
Mat, Bristol
Let the government impose some sort of law and see how many people just ignore it. It is a parent's right to punish their child, just as it is their duty to care for them. Look at today's teenagers to see what sort of future we are creating for ourselves. Frankly, judging by what we see of the up and coming generation I'm terrified for the future of this country.
Matt, Bristol, UK
Part of today's problems especially with anti-social behaviour is borne out by the fact that the role of parents is constantly being eroded by "do-gooders". They bleat on one day about ASBO's and next day say that parents should not be allowed to smack children. There is a difference between "short, sharp, shock" and outright abuse but sadly these people chose not to recognise this. Yet they will be the first to shout out about the "yob culture" that is gathering pace in this Country.
John Lawniczak, Uppingham, UK I have two boys aged 10 & 6 and have never smacked them; they are well behaved normal boys. Teaching children that hurting someone enables you to control them is hardly a good lesson for life. The comment about smacking a child to prevent harm - how about moving them out of harms way without the smack?
Paul O'Connor, West Wickham, UK
Yes! But with a loving hand.
Brian M Keith, Ellesmere UK
I set out to be a liberal parent who would use reasoning and example to teach my child. Here's news for non-parents out there - it doesn't work. Now I smack though only if she does something which could endanger her. I discuss with her afterwards why she was smacked. This way she may learn the reasons behind the smack but the smack itself is there to stop potentially harmful behaviour and prevent its reoccurrence. And she is a very happy and safe 3 yr old.
Steve, Glasgow
| Politicians should stick to politics, not parenting |
You are legally responsible for your children, you hold their passports, you open their bank accounts, and you are punished if they skip school. The State does not perform these functions on your behalf, so why should it tell you how to bring up your kids? Politicians should stick to politics, not parenting.
Russ, London, UK This government needs to learn how to govern rather than control. It is a subtle difference similar to that between smacking and abuse. One is helpful, the other is a dangerous step backwards.
Glen, Welling, UK
Children legislators and policymakers should concentrate on providing real and quality educational services for children. Leave discipline to the parents. There are already laws in place to prevent and address abuse. All policymakers that are promoting and pushing this bill should be removed from office.
John Ward, Delmar USA
Why do some people think it not right to strike an adult, but OK to hit a defenceless child in your care?
DB, UK
This is the nanny state at its worst. The existing laws against child abuse are already adequate to prevent harm to children. This is pure interference in normal family life. It should be left to the family to decide how to raise their children. It should not be the job of government to impose their own political and social values upon the rest of the country under the dubious argument of child protection.
Paul Cole, UK
| I vote for outright ban and for children's rights enshrined by law |
It is too easy to smack young children rather than stand back and reflect as a parent on your own actions i.e. why you smack them. I vote for outright ban and for children's rights enshrined by law.
Paul Barron, London This bill will not stop abusers. You cannot make people righteous by an Act of Parliament. Instead intolerable pressure will be placed on loving parents.
Ray Wiseman, Nottingham, England
You just have to look around you to see the lack of respect that youngster have now, to see that parent discipline is needed. I have two kids, the only way to teach them the rights and wrongs is at times to smack them, as long as it is not hard and aggressive and is a means to teach them what's right and what's wrong. It did me no harm when I was young. Also how are the government going to enforce it?
Ian, Paddock Wood, UK
If we aren't allowed to chastise our children, can you imagine what state our society will be in, in 10 years time? I think parents should have the right to smack their children to prevent a lawless society in the future.
Sarah, Sheffield, UK
As a person who was smacked as a child I do not agree with smacking. No argument for the "right" to smack a child has ever convinced me to change my mind How many parents who smack have looked into all the available options such a positive parenting and alternative forms of discipline and then said "no, smacking is still the way for me"? I suspect hardly any. They are lazy people who are stuck in their ways, no wonder the Swedish call smacking the "English disease"
Anon, UK
| We must be allowed to discipline our children when they are young |
Yes, parents have the right to smack, not beat, their children. A swat on the backside is not child abuse. We have a generation of spoiled brats running amuck on our streets. We must be allowed to discipline our children when they are young. Starting when they are teens is too late.
Linda, Manchester, UK The government are going about this in the wrong way. Parents, who have a hard enough time as it is, shouldn't be criminalised but re-educated. Hitting a child (which let's face it, is what "smacking" is) is wrong as it teaches a child that inflicting pain on someone else is acceptable. Should we be surprised if kids who are regularly beaten, end up hitting their peers? Basically parents hit their kids either because they've lost control of the situation (happens to us all, sadly) or they are too lazy to take the time to understand better ways of dealing with bad behaviour.
Declan, Bristol
In our society we have made the correct assumption that a certain percentage of the grown-ups will behave unreasonably despite all the good will from the rest of the society. This is the reason we have a legal system that punishes those that do not follow 'the law'. Those who are against smacking have assumed that children will behave more reasonably than the grown ups and that we should not have the need to punish them in any way. This is obviously naive and in the long term against the interests of the children. The parents and teachers should have the right to smack the children provided that no physical damage is caused and within reason to avoid cruel behaviour.
Costas Foudas, London
I think children need to have a strong boundaries set and enforced and if that involves the occasional smack then GOOD. Most kids these days are rude and its no wonder there is so much juvenile crime. Perhaps the NSPCC and other Children's Charities involved in this campaign have nothing better to do.
Gail Lambert, Portsmouth, Hampshire
NO!! Parents should have no more right to smack children than husbands have to smack wives, or I have to smack you. Ideas about dog training seem to have progressed further than ideas about parenting in this country.
Debra, Southampton, UK
Everyone here is concentrating on whether it is right to smack a child or not, but no-one is asking what the consequences of imprisoning parents might be. Is it really thought to be in the child's best interest that their parent goes to prison over a minor smack? We already have parents in prison over child truancy, and overall I have no reason to believe that this has created better children in consequence, so how will sending parents to prison for smacking help to improve the child's life? Whatever the rights and wrongs of smacking, is it really the greater of the two evil's here?
George, Harpenden, England
Some parents don't seem to mind their kids running riot and causing chaos. Unfortunately we ALL suffer the consequences. ALL parents have a right to discipline their children. Take away that right, and watch society decay even further. It's not to late to reverse the trend.
Steve, Nottingham, UK
One of the most critical of life's lessons, not least in respect for others, is an awareness of consequence. Sometimes the last resort in teaching the error of inappropriate or dangerous behaviour to a child has to be a smack. However I've never come to this point with any of my three children without feeling that I'd already failed as both a human being and parent. To abdicate your responsibility as a parent just because there is no other more palatable resort would be, to my mind, inexcusable. However revolting some musty old Labour rebels might become in the Commons over this matter, the well-being of my children, and in that I maintain that I am the better judge, will always be put first in my mind.
Bill Gribble, Gloucester, UK Yes of course you should. I have four year old twins that are rarely smacked now but as two and three year olds seemed to have a smack on the hand almost weekly. At that age the smack is very light, but teaches them not to do what they've been asked not to. They are now old enough to reason with and I don't need to smack them as a look is generally sufficient. Look around you, there's no respect for anything anymore simply because we don't apply boundaries for our youngsters. As for assigning a social worker to those parents that smack, that is ludicrous!
Lyndon, Cardiff, Wales
So what are you saying here? If I were to hit an adult it is assault. If I hit my child it is OK under current law. I have 2 children and have never smacked them and I have no intention of starting.
Patrick , London
I absolutely agree with smacking. I don't have any kids but I am a well-adjusted, intelligent and happy guy of 24 who got smacked if I was bad as a child. I particularly remember one time, where I stole a cousins toy and my mum smacked me needless to say I learned a valuable lesson and I never stole another thing in my life. How can that be a bad thing??
Alex, Belfast
| Many parents will smack in response to their own anger |
I don't think that smacking is either good or bad, it's the motivation which drives it which is open to question. Many parents will smack in response to their own anger and this is a dangerous road often leading to abuse. However as many have commented a smack to enforce a lesson learned, often given through love or concern is all together different. The real problem is, how do you legislate something as ephemeral as motivation?
Stephen, Liverpool, UK My son had a few 'taps' when he was small, now he is 13 and I can reason with him (well most of the time). Our society is already spiralling out of control, teachers often fear students they are unable to control now. Legislation banned hand guns, which did away with legitimate gun clubs but has not taken the guns off the streets. The abusers will continue to abuse and our youngsters will become uncontrollable.
Terri, Hersham, Surrey
Of course parents should have the right to smack their children. Talking simply does not go far enough sometimes. Children must understand when they continually cross the line of disobedience, they will be smacked.
John, London
Most definitely. Kids are running riot in our streets with no fear of consequence. Children do not posses the ability to reason with adults and should be disciplined until they are old enough to recognise acceptable behaviour
Stuart Millar, Aberdeen, Scotland
| We need to respect children more and we will have a better society as a result |
I'm shocked at how many people have written thinking it's right to smack children. I can't believe they have their own children. I have four and I have never had the need to smack them to discipline them. Twice I have done and both times it was to do with my own tiredness or frustration. It is clearly wrong to hit someone and the smaller the person the more wrong. We need to respect children more and we will have a better society as a result. If it was outlawed it wouldn't result in arrests but it would change attitudes - like wearing seatbelts in cars.
Helen Baker, London If you're going to compare children to adults, you would have to let kids do as they please, go to bed when they please, go to school only if they want to. If smacking is assault then surely refusing food, or sending them to their room all alone is also violating their rights?
Miles, UK
I am absolutely horrified that so many of you support a parents so called right to smack children. What about the children's rights? Whatever happened to communication and explaining why the behaviour they are committing is wrong? No wonder the youth of today is more antisocial and disrespectful to authority!
Becky, Nottingham
| If this ban is instigated it will move the UK closer to the ridiculous litigious society of America |
Absolutely, yes. I was smacked as a child, and I think it did me good, though it wasn't particularly pleasant at the time! If this ban is instigated it will move the UK closer to the ridiculous litigious society of America. Parents and people in general should have the right to make some decisions without the government's help.
Olivia, Essex Here we go again, legislation for society's lowest common denominator. It is no business of some Westminster-bound MP how I bring up my children, so long as they are not abused. I've found it amazing the number of friends who could be described as falling into the yogurt-weaving category, who have changed their minds about that 'little smack' since they have actually had children to bring up. I've yet to hear a solution to stopping a three year old from sticking their hand in the fire when they're having a temper tantrum. Engaging them in debate over their human rights never seems to work.
Gerry, Crewkerne, UK
A smack is not abuse or a beating. It's a short sharp reminder to a young child of who's boss until they're old enough to reason with you. At a time when parents are being blamed for a wide range of discipline-related issues, banning smacking takes another step towards removing all parental authority while leaving them with all the responsibility - a lose-lose situation.
Andrew, Cambridge, UK
| I will never ever assault my daughter in that manner and I would prosecute anyone else who did |
In Sweden smacking is illegal and Sweden has a lower youth offender rate than Britain, as well as lower under age STD rates and pregnancy rates, as well lower delinquency rates. Smacking an adult when they do something wrong is legally defined as assault. The question of whether or not parents should be allowed to smack their children is in fact the question of whether or not they should be allowed to assault them. I was smacked as a child and it has scarred me for life. I will never ever assault my daughter in that manner and I would prosecute anyone else who did.
George Masterton, Sweden (Scot) How far will this go? Will the government ban parents telling off their children because of the psychological damage it could do? Parents must have means by which they can teach their children what is and what is not acceptable.
Kate, London, UK
Another useless bill wasting everyone's time and money. We already have legislation in place to protect children from serious mental and physical abuse. No one is advocating the right to beat children, just the right to make them know a short sharp shock will happen if they misbehave. Anyone would think we've been nothing but a generation of crippled insecure shells, the way supporters of a ban make out.
Ed, London, UK
| Any smack, even light ones, will cause the skin to redden slightly |
Is this law going to stop abuse - no. Abuse is already against the law and any parent likely to abuse a child will still do so. And what is this nonsense about "skin reddening". Any smack, even light ones, will cause the skin to redden slightly. Are we going to have "redness meters" to determine the level of abuse? What about "OK to smack as long as it's not a punishment! What else are you going to smack a child for - fun? The whole thing is stupid and just contributes to a society where kids think they can get away with anything.
Ian, Aberdeen I have a 14 month old little girl and I will smack her if need arise - often this is to instil the dangers of a situation in other words aversion therapy. Child abuse won't be stopped by this law, only good parents will suffer under it. It also worries me that we will get an even worse generation of kids/teens than we currently have who will have no discipline and no respect for anything or anyone as they can't be touched. I might end up in court but I also might end up with a good citizen for a kid and I'll take the risk for her sake.
Andy Rouse, St Annes, Lancashire
| Teachers should be allowed to smack unruly children |
The reason why we have so much anti-social behaviour is because kids who were brought up in the 1980s and 1990s were not chastised enough. Not just parents, but also teachers should be allowed to smack unruly children. Caning should be reintroduced in all schools above the infants class.
Mike, High Wycombe, UK I was smacked on my bottom for disobedience as a child and it hasn't done me any harm. However, I don't believe in smacking children. I believe there is always an alternative way in handling a difficult situation and not having to resort to violence, however minor that may be.
Tom, London
What is the next step? To get a license before becoming a parent? The whole issue is a lot more serious than it appears. Although there are cases where the state should interfere in domestic life, the less it interferes, the better. Imagine how difficult would be for a parent to tell off their child once that child starts to threaten that they will turn to the police.
Maria Aloziou, Athens Greece
I think that giving a naughty child a smack on the bottom is a lot better than standing in the middle of the street, screaming and shouting at children. The children in this country are very undisciplined and are growing up to be hooligans. Parents are inconsiderate and children just plain irritating.
Lesley Burt, Horsham
| If you are still smacking at 8 or 9, you have already failed |
A young child is unable to understand complex reasoning, but can link disobedience with pain. Get it right with the under 5's and you only have to give them a stern look later in life. If you are still smacking at 8 or 9, you have already failed.
Simon, Southport UK Ah the nanny state! What next? Speaking to our children with raised voices to be a criminal offence, because of the mental harm it will cause!
Jon R, Cambridge, UK
The key to successful discipline is consistency and not the use of violence. Violence can be counter-productive because it teaches the use of violence as a means to get your own way. Ideally the smacking of children should be stopped altogether, but I don't think this is achievable yet. Were social services not already overstretched, the best response to a smacker would be to appoint a social worker to keep an eye on the situation, and help the family learn more effective and humane methods of discipline.
Joe Otten, Sheffield, UK
| Young children do not understand and cannot be reasoned with |
Unfortunately there are no viable alternatives to smacking a child. Young children do not understand and cannot be reasoned with as you would an adult. Their senses of right and wrong are very blurred. The only way you can reinforce good or bad behaviour is reward or punishment. Smacking is one of the only punishments that works effectively. It is not abuse, it is instilling discipline in the child, something which liberal parents do not do anymore.
Andy, Brighton, UK This law will not stop the few parents who go over the top and injure their children, which is already against the law. The anti-smacking campaigners probably have not suffered from gangs of ill disciplined kids making life a misery for them and their neighbours. The gradual erosion of parents and teachers ability to correct children's behaviour has resulted in the increasing yob culture we suffer from today. Leave parents alone to bring up their children as they see fit, and punish those who go over the top. And return some effective form of punishment to school teachers.
Anon, UK
If you are going to call smacking, beating, you might as well equate hugging with sexual molestation. Those who seek to ban loving discipline in the home should first learn a bit of common sense.
Michael, York, UK
| Would the government please stop interfering with every aspect of our life |
Reasoning with a two or three year old about the dangers of running into the road won't ever work. A little bit of pain and a NO! really helps. Rather that than run under a bus. Would the government please stop interfering with every aspect of our life and "govern" the country, not us.
Craig, Folkestone, UK Regardless of what I think on the matter the wishes of the people are crystal clear on the matter. Those in public office voting to ban smacking have continuously ignored the people - what protection do we have against these people? They should be fired.
William O'Brien, Barbados (Ex UK)
It is ridiculous that I should not be allowed to smack my child. It never did me any harm when I was young.
Chris, Ashford
| I don't condone using it as a regular and consistent form of discipline |
Yes. A smack is a smack. It's not being hit or beaten or whipped or abused. It's a smack. I don't condone using it as a regular and consistent form of discipline, but neither do I condone making criminals out of parents.
Wendy, UK I'm so sick and tired of hearing the self righteous preach about how wrong it is to smack children. The fact is, kids today are insolent and unruly, and occasionally need to be disciplined. They have no discipline at school, and sometimes the only language they can understand is a sharp smack on the backside. It never did me any harm when I was a kid, and I see myself as secure, polite and friendly. There is, however, the risk of child abuse in this, so there must be some restrictions. Oh, and if I sound old-fashioned, I'm actually only 21.
Stanhoffenski, Edinburgh, Scotland
I would go one stage further - if someone else's screaming kid is giving you a headache in the supermarket, and they are not controlling them, you should be allowed to smack them.
Derek Gogley, Reading, Berkshire
I absolutely agree with Mr. Derek Gogley, Reading, Berkshire. Some children are so unruly and misbehaved that their parents should be held responsible for causing distress to others. I should be allowed to smack these parents.
Leonhardt, Germany
Yes. Speaking as a parent of five children who now have their own children I believe that a little 'pain' at an early age administered with love and forgiveness prevents a lot of real pain later.
Ron Milligan, Gosport, England
| There is a world of difference between discipline and abuse |
What a load of nonsense! I was smacked as a child, and I wouldn't change a thing. It hasn't caused any more damage than there would have been if I'd been grounded or had my pocket money stopped instead - quite the opposite. It was over and done with, and I learned my lesson(s). It is only a few minutes of anger instead of weeks of unhappiness leading onto years of resentment. Where's the problem? Too many people confuse smacking with beating - but there is a world of difference between discipline and abuse.
Richard, Sheffield, UK Yes! It's called discipline. Most of the kids that run riot around town centres, probably come from namby-pamby families that were against smacking.
Rob Watson, Winchester, Hampshire
One-Minute World News 
News services
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
