Physical discipline against children .. okay or not?
Physical disciplining commonly used by parents to teach their young not to do certain things for fear of being beaten. In many places of the world, it is currently a hot topic. Sweden was the first country to prohibit physical punishment against children on the basis that, while it may be an effective way to change unwanted behaviour, it can have negative consequences for those children otherwise.
The same law is being discussed in Norway at the moment. Of course, a lot of people defend physical punishment. Many, probably most of our parents and grandparents were beaten when they were children and many of those used the same way to raise their own children. They don't necessarily consider themselves bad people and they don't like it when a law comes along saying that what they did was morally wrong and should be criminalized. You also have people who have been beaten and think they're all the better for it who come out of the woodwork to defend this kind of disciplining.
(edit: Children in Norway are already well protected here, but supreme court has stated somewhat recently that light smacks are allowed which recently triggered more discussion on the subject)
Where do you stand on this issue? The question may be intimately private, so for those who don't wish to spill their beans that way, I've provided you with an anonymous poll. Noone will be able to see what your poll-choice was .. I think.
I think it's good to outlaw it. I find it ridiculous that we have laws protecting our pets from being beaten up, but we're not protecting our children the same way. There are other ways of bringing up children, just watch Super Nanny or Nanny 911 if you don't know what they are. I agree that it's not good when a law criminalizes a lot of people, but the effect of such a law won't be to throw every smacking parent in jail. It'll help protect some of those kids who have it bad and it might promote a bit more moralistic thinking when it comes to our children. I think it's a problem if in a society, children are looked upon by parents more as property than fellow human beings.
You have to raise them and respect them at the same time. I'm not a father, but I bet that's really hard and smacking might be easier to resort to, but I still think it's wrong.
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