Quote:
Originally Posted by VEGANGELICA
And if you slap the child's hand and the child still persists in doing the dangerous behavior again, then what are you going to do? Punch her??
Young children (under 3, for example) *do* need to be supervised very closely to prevent them from hurting themselves, and this means you hover and remove them from dangerous locations, or remove the dangers (best option).
Little ones don't understand dangers as well as adults do. Rather than using pain and startling children to try to cause greater fear of dangers, just pick up the child or distract him away from the danger, while explaining what the danger is and saying "No" firmly. Repeat this as often as necessary. Eventually kids grow up and learn not to do obvious dangerous stuff...without ever having to be swatted.
Exactly what are these dangerous situations from which you need to protect children?
Worried about kids touching the stove? Use the back burners; put safety protectors on the dials; use a safety gate to keep the child out of the kitchen while cooking. Worried about the kids running into the street? Accompany them outside; hold their hands while on the sidewalk so they don't dart into the street. Want the child to stay away from the stairs to avoid falls? Close the door to the stairwell; install a solid safety gate.
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I wasn't talking about children that young. I agree with you children that young can be moved away or protected against that sort of thing. I was thinking of children aged maybe 5 to 9 years old who are capable of reasoning and still do dangerous things despite being told not to.
I can only remember being slapped a couple of times as a kid, both between the ages that I mentioned. Once for messing around on a busy road when I persistently ignored my mothers warnings and once for playing with a box of matches I found in an alleyway outside the house. Both times I knew I was wrong, both times I was told I would be slapped if I did anything that dangerous, yet I did them.
I didn't do it again after that. It wasn't because it hurt, it wasn't because I was psychologically traumatised. It was because I knew that I was wrong and ashamed that I'd let my parents down for them to have to go to those lengths to get the message across to me.