Charles David Parker, 23, was charged after allegedly smacking his five-year-old daughter when he became frustrated and angry at her misbehaviour while she was staying at his house during a weekend visit late last year.He allegedly told off his daughter several times about taking sweets but she disobeyed him. He then allegedly dragged her inside by the arm, causing a red mark, and slapped her twice in the back, causing two marks and a welt on her leg. The police dealing with the case said that while the law allowed for reasonable chastisement of a child for discipline, the force Mr Parker used was excessive and unreasonable. The father pleaded not guilty to assault. He mat not of caused long-term physical damage, but there are several things attached: physical punishment can in some cases escalate and turn into abuse. Also, it sends a clear message to children: that might is right, that if you don't like what someone is doing to you should resort to physical force. In the case of Mr Parker it is clear to most people that the force he used on his daughter was more than moderate. But what about cases that are not so open and shut?
Scientists have come up with evidence to suggest parents may smack their children much harder than they intend to. They say this is because everyone - from infants to professional boxers - may underestimate the power of their physical actions. The scientists believe the phenomenon occurs because of the way the brain is programmed. Dr Sukhwinder Singh Shergill and other Wellcome Trust researchers at University College, London, assessed six pairs of people in "tit-for-tat" situations.
They applied a fixed force to the finger of one member of each pair. These volunteers were in turn then asked to apply the same force to the second member in each pair The second group of volunteers were then asked to apply the same force to the first group again. The cycle was repeated eight times. By the end, the researchers found that the force being applied was 14 times greater than that originally applied. They found that the volunteers increased the amount of force they were using at each turn by at least a third. In some cases, the force increased by 50%. But when participants were asked to apply the same force remotely, by operating a joystick, they were surprisingly accurate. The researchers said the findings might explain why children who have been fighting say "they hit me harder". The results showed that to get the same feeling of force, you need to exert more force. "It is well known that a system in the brain de-emphasises the effects of our own actions, but this is the first time it has been measured." Said Dr shergill. He suggested the findings could have implications for a wide-range of people, including parents. "It may not be possible for parents to accurately judge the force they apply when they smack their children and this experiment would suggest that they will smack harder than they think or intend," he said. The researchers believe that the phenomenon is a result of mixed messages in the brain. When a person makes a movement they send a signal to a specific area of the brain, telling it what to expect. This forewarning causes a person to apply more force than they intend to. They believe the same process is involved when a person tries to tickle themselves. It is almost impossible to tickle yourself, largely because the brain knows what to expect. However, it is possible so long as the brain is caught unaware. This usually only occurs when someone else tries to tickle you. Perhaps a parent might think that they are using reasonable force, Taking into consideration the findings form the above experiment, how accurate is that thought? Clearly strict guidelines would have to be set out if smacking children were to become illegal.
The NSPCC delivered a report recently that showed Seven per cent of children have suffered physical abuse in the home, 8,000 children were registered for physical abuse in England during the year ending 31 March 2001, 36,500 children are on child protection registers in the UK Infants and boys are more likely to be physically abused than older children and girls. The group wants the Children Bill to be amended to give youngsters the same protection as adults in the home. Lucy Thorpe, policy advisor for the NSPCC said “What we are actually talking about here is children having the same protection as adults under the law on assault. That would send a clear message to parents and everybody else that hitting children is as unacceptable as hitting anybody else in the society. What we have at the moment is a situation where
children actually have less protection under the law on assault rather than the same as adults”. In terms of domestic violence between adults we would not accept for a wife or husband to give their partner a tap or smack, and it should be the same for children. You may think, “What harm can a smack do?” Well as recent studies have shown, you may not realise just how hard your “tap” or “smack” is. It could and sometimes does lead to unacceptable physical abuse. The NSPCC don't just want a change in the law - they want much more widespread support and education for parents on the benefits of positive non-violent discipline. For example you could use a star chat system, where by your child would get a star if they did, or stopped doing certain things. If the task that was asked of them was completed, they should get a star, if they didn't do it then they should get a dot. At the end of the week you add up all the stars. If the child has got seven stars they can have a prize like a comic or a pound to spend on anything they wanted. If he got a bit less than seven then you could give sweets or money for their moneybox. If your child fails to get any stars then they should get nothing.
There will always be a debate between those morally opposed to any corporal punishment, and those who see it as a necessary last resort. Smacking a child is not the same as beating a child to the point of injury. Teasing a child for a behaviour is not the same as constant ridicule. As the law stands at present, it is already illegal to beat your child. In general terms I feel that smacking is ineffective and serves to show a child that a physical response is required to a given situation. I believe that most smacking is undertaken out of frustration and/or a lack of knowledge or experience of how else the problem could be tackled. Perhaps there are times when it may be appropriate? Such as alerting a young child to danger when reasoning is not likely to succeed. I am sure that there are many parents who use smacking as the first line of discipline and I believe this is wrong, but to attempt to ban it entirely appears an over-reaction and I wonder how those who wish this to happen feel about other examples of bad parenting - will they all be made illegal?
REFERENCES
Practical Parenting issue- February 2005 – Article- To smack or not to smack….
January 3rd 2005
January 3rd 2005
January 8th 2005
January 8th 2005
Victoria Cox
Study Skills.
