22nd February 2013 9:00
By Blue Tutors
When I was younger, the threat of (or even the actual receiving of) a smack was rare. However, when it did come, I felt that overriding sense of fear and in a flash I stopped whatever misbehaving deed I was committing immediately. In an interview with the Mail on Sunday, Justice Secretary Chris Grayling defended the right of parents to smack their children.
While I am in complete agreement with all of those parents and schoolteachers who say that children should not be hit at school, surely what a parent does at home is their own prerogative? While on school grounds, no teacher at my various schools ever resorted to physical abuse in order to deal with behaviour issues of other pupils. When children make mistakes at school, surely none of them warrant a violent response and this is not something that should be taught to pupils as a way of dealing with such issues.
Although I do not and will not ever condone physical or mental abuse of a child, I most certainly do not believe that a few parental smacks to the bottom lead children to grow up believing violence is acceptable. Instead of overreacting and immediately branding parents as child abusers (most definitely the worst thing for any parent to hear), perhaps we should look to other reasons for children learning about violence.
Violent video games, films and youtube clips are much more likely to cause children to grow up thinking violence is a justifiable way to sort out a situation. Sometimes, a smack is just what is needed.