Is it simply a matter of confusion or the fact that once parents think it is OK to hit a child they inevitably wind up in a situation where they discover a “light tap” has absolutely no effect. Accordingly, they escalate to more force and when that also proves ineffective they lose self control, go overboard and cause serious injury. Case files prove that parents do not set out to harm their children, they simply do not understand the slippery slope they have embarked upon.

This is only one reason why child advocates insist on a total ban. The other reason of course is that hitting a child violates their dignity and is humiliating. Prussian pedagogy has no place in the 21st century as if it ever had a legitimate place. It is toxic. We must recall that until very recent times punishing children was considered the exclusive domain of the male head of household.

Why subject children to a process that has proven risks when there are so many good advice books available on disciplining techniques that do not involve violence and do not train children that violence is a parent-approved way to solve a problem with another person who is being difficult.
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I’m not advocating smacking and I don’t have any children so I’m not commenting as a parent, but for those of you who have on occasion smacked your children, chances are your kids will survive the experience without any lasting damage.

There’s definitely a huge difference between a quick attention grabbing smack and a beating though, and I think some people confuse the two at times.
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Is displaying a bit of anger, but let me assure you no insult to parents was meant. I was making the point that human observations are notoriously unreliable. So much so, that some courts are beginning to refuse to admit eye witness testimony, and genetic tests are freeing dozens of prisoners in the US that were convicted on eye witness account alone. The literature is unequivocal. Our minds are rife with veritable booby traps for the unwary.

The beauty of science as a method of discovering truth is that there are so many checks and balances to ward off error. Research is peer reviewed by other experts and these people are not “friends” of the scientist they review. They are picked at random. They would like nothing better than to pick holes in the work because scientists are rewarded by finding errors in this system. Anyone who can convincingly prove mistakes were made in the design, the conduct or the data and how it was analyzed scores points. And to begin with, a scientist has to have a respectable track record to even get the funding they need to do a research project. They have to convince the people who give out grants that their work will be valuable.

Therefore, if you read a paper that documents that hitting a small child is ineffective and that there is a 70% recidivism rate you should trust that research over your own unscientific, casual observations.

Unless you know as much about the topic as an expert, it seems really foolhardy to criticize intelligent people who devote their waking moments trying to find solutions to vexing problems. It just makes a joke out of human knowledge that was won at great cost. And, is subject to change of course. But such change happens in a rigorous framework that acknowledges all our human weaknesses for self deception and bias. It is a beautifully worked out system.
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For the record…it was a plastic sword. And I only had to do it once. As they say in some dieting circles: It’s what you do MOST of the time that counts.

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I did so want to leave it there, as a glib comment, but I can’t.
I feel the Coal Miner’s Daughter has summed it up well. A quick smack on the leg to ‘get attention’, to jerk a kid into awareness, is the most effective use of smacking and of course this becomes less necessary the older and more sentient they become. Basically, once a kid can say to you ‘THAT didn’t hurt’, smacking has outlived its usefulness. It is simply a tool in the disciplinary toolbox and like any tool, it has a pretty specific purpose, is not useful in all situations and becomes blunt with over-use.

Mr Richard Collins said this:
“Parents think that spanking is effective, but it is an illusion. Yes a child will stop whatever behavior got their parents attention, but as soon as the parents attention is elsewhere, they are most apt to repeat whatever “earned” them the slap. Careful observations have shown that the recidivism rate is extremely high, around 70%.

This failure to observe true outcomes is because most people are not trained as scientists and lack the patience and rigor of trained scientists. For this reason parents should pay attention to the studies and not rely on their casual untrained observations.”

This gets up my nose on a number of levels. Firstly, it assumes that all parents use smacking as a conditioning behaviour rather than a boundary marker. Secondly, ‘lack the patience and rigor of trained scientists’??? Listen mate, my kid just climbed up the fucking china cabinet for the fourth time! You bet your fucking ass I ain’t got any patience and rigor left!!!! Thirdly, as any good educator will tell you, the EXPERT on any child is its parent (with obvious outlier exceptions) although what they sometimes need help with is interpreting and responding to their FAR from CASUAL observations!!!

The rearing of children is an organic process. It involves both the child and the parent, their respective personalities and the healthy distribution of control, which should rest, for the most part, with the parent to begin with. If parents can recognise their own feelings and rely on these as a guide to the effectiveness of their strategies, they are most of the way there. Did that form of discipline sit well with you? Are you able to resume a good relationship with your child when the incident is over? Do you get a sense of healthy control, vengeful victory or frustration and powerlessness from your efforts to guide your child through their stages of development?
Parents KNOW when something is or isn’t working. If it isn’t,
read studies by all means but do NOT discount your own contribution to the equation. Try different approaches and learn from your mistakes. We all make ‘em. What you teach your kids, by your behaviour, is how to respond appropriately to those mistakes.

Oh, and I threw the plastic sword out and we all lived happily ever after…
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I guess whatever works.
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