Smacking Children

The smacking of a child is a highly controversial subject within our society today. What is classed as a smack? Who can smack a child? How often should this be done? A smack is generally issued by parents or carers as form of discipline; to show children who have misbehaved there will be a negative response as a consequence. This then instils the child to not repeat this form of behaviour in the future. Others will argue that a smack in this way is a type of physical abuse towards the child and other means of discipline should be used instead; such as timeout, grounding or privileges taken away. Evidence now suggests that later on in life ‘Smacking can also cause depression, anxiety and drugs and alcohol abuse’ (Jonathan Brown, 2012). Whether you are for smacking or against this is personal opinion and it is still a legal form of discipline and is used wide spread across Britain. Specific places within Britain do have bans in place and maybe one day in the near future this will become banned throughout. (Beth Morrisey MLIS, 2012)

Referencing Table

Jonathon Brown (7th February 2012) ‘Smacking children causes long-term damage’ [online] Available at: < http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/smacking-children- causes-longterm-damage-6612088.html> [Accessed on: 7th September 2012]

Beth Morrisey MLIS (2012) ‘Smacking and Children’ [online] Available at: <http://www.kidsbehaviour.co.uk/smackingandchildren.html> [Accessed on: 7th September 2012]