Is smacking a child appropriate?

Anybody that smacks a child immediately loses their humanity and don't deserve any recognition or respect. They're abusive garbage and should be condemned.

I don't care how much they think it will discipline their child, if you think the only way to raise and teach your child is to hit them, then maybe you shouldn't even have children in the first place.

My parents always said 'You're never too old to be hit'. I was raised in a strict Irish family.

I can't get behind spanking as punishment at all. A slap on the wrist (with a hand, not an object) if the child is putting themselves in danger (like they are going to touch a hot stove, etc) is one thing. Touching their bottom as a punshiment is 100% not okay, regardless of the degree of force. How does one teach non-violence to a child while exhibiting violence? How does one teach boundaries to a child while invading those boundaries?

There are other forms of punishment that are probably more effective.

That seems arbitrary. Would, for example, hitting your wife have to result in injury for it to be considered spousal abuse? I would imagine not.

I think what rainbow is trying to say is that smacking ought to be considered child abuse, even though it isn't in contemporary parlance. The only reason hitting your child isn't considered child abuse is because it's so common and something many of us grew up with. Calling these actions child abuse becomes a heavy accusation and indictment against many parents including some of our own, but there is really no reason why it can't be considered child abuse.

I agree. If a parent needs to resort to using physical punishment to get their message across to the child, it's simply bad parenting. I know a verbal warning doesn't always suffice, but you're right, there are other forms of punishment which are more effective.

It perhaps works to some extent, compared to not disciplining your child at all, which is far too common nowadays, but I'm not convinced violence is more effective than non-violent forms of discipline. You're right to feel it wasn't very effective: study after study shows that children who are hit as a form of discipline exhibit more aggressive and anti-social behaviour than those who aren't hit, and are more likely to suffer from depression (https://news.utexas.edu/2016/04/25/risks-of-harm-from-spanking-confirmed-by-researchers).



It's simply not an effective form of discipline.

I'm sorry but "whoop your ass" sounds funny in my head coming from a white mother's mouth

My (South Asian) parents used to hit (slap) me a lot, but I'm too old for that now.

My mom sometimes tries to get me to hit my little sisters. Admittedly, I used to give them a gentle knock on the head when I was a teen (and they were 4-6ish) when they weren't listening, it didn't usually work. My brother straight up beat them up After I went off to uni though and gained an appreciation for the scientific method and learnt about ethics, I don't hit them, and neither does my brother thankfully.

My mom still tries to get me to hit them, but I usually just take their laptop, iPad or TV away. They listen to me way more than they listen to my mom. They don't take my mom seriously right up until she hits them, but when my mom's calmed down they go back to their usual behaviour. They know mom's disciplinary method relies 100% on her being angry or ticked off, if she's not angry then there won't be any real discipline.

With me, I tell them "if you don't do what I say, you're not getting your laptop until after the weekend", and I say it in a calm, stern way. They know I'm going to follow through on my threat because I always do. They can beg, cry, apologize profusedly, which is what they usually do, but I keep that laptop locked up until Monday after-school just like I said I would. They know me disciplining them doesn't rely on my mood swings, but entirely on their behaviour. And that's why my mom has resorted to calling me when someone needs to put some sense into them.