But opposed to those points of view there are the people who are against smacking, like me with some of the argument being that: The parent could take it too far and lose control, it is physical abuse, if punching etc is wrong then so is smacking. Also, if you smack them softly the first time it will only get harder and harder and harder until the child has to suffer violent abuse just to be punished for small things. Another argument against smacking is that some people might only smack to release their own anger or frustration.
There are many alternatives to smacking, I think alternatives to smacking are better and are more likely to work, I think smacking is wrong and if you do smack your children, some kind of hate or fear builds up inside them, they end up fearing you. Some people say this fear of the parent is good and it means the child respects the parent but I think if your child fears you then how you can have a loving, caring parent - child relationship with them.
Some of the most obvious alternatives are shouting, taking away privileges (e.g. sweets, money, TV, hi-fi etc), grounding and making them go straight to their room or bed. I think these punishments work but a Childs' behavior and misbehavior all depends on the bringing up he/she had in the first place. For example if a child has had a bad upbringing, has been mistreat and the parents haven't taken due care in teaching the child basic morals and what's right or wrong then the child will always be misbehaving and no matter what punishment you give them they will not see that it's for their own good, they will resent you, it would be stupid. How would the parent be able to punish the child if the parent has never taught the child that it's wrong in the 1st place? On the other hand if a child has been brought up knowing right from wrong then when you punish them I think that it will have a greater effect.
I think alternatives to smacking are effective but I'm also being tempted to believe that if a child is never smacked, then the child is likely to become arrogant, cheeky and ignorant. The reason I think this is that, I have never been smacked by my mum. For various reasons my mum and I have constant, serious disagreements, which can result in me shouting or thinking that I’m always right. This obviously means I don't have as much respect for her as I should. But my point is that at the end of the day the other punishments to smacking, which I receive, are effective.
E.g. One time, I used my mobile phone that I had line rental on when I wasn’t supposed to and the bill came up to £200 for my mum to pay. When my mum realized she didn’t give me any money to buy shoes for a party I wanted to go to. At that time I thought it was unfair and I thought she was just being silly about it, but now I definitely know I won’t do it again. My younger brother for his age is very cheeky and disobedient, he is never smacked and lately due to the people he plays with and the things he watches on television he has now resulted to swearing and behaving arrogant. Maybe in this case many parents would think a smack is the result but it certainly isn’t. When I have children I wouldn't want to smack them but, depending on the circumstances a quick slap wouldn’t be the only option. I think the punishment should be the result. To think about it silly punishments like locking your child in a room for weeks is silly. Only minor punishments should be allowed.
In conclusion to all of this, my opinion is that children should not be smacked if they have done something seriously wrong only given punishments because a parent wants to release their own frustration as that is wrong on the child. I feel that punishments really do work and that what ever is done the child has been taught a lesson.
Below are pictures of how children are being smacked and abused.
