[SubAtomic]

Depends.

Smacked for disturbing Jeremy Kyle or some other pointless thing = NO

Smacked for playing with matches or some other considerably serious offence for a child = YES

I was a firebug, lucky I never set myself on fire to be fair, burnt my finger once with melting plastic, that did the trick, could have done with a slap and I might not have burnt myself.

[tory88]

With young children, I would say it is acceptable in some instances. It isn't always possible to explain to a very young child why something is dangerous. A child can work out 'doing that = pain' and that can help. So should it be used, yes, but only as a last resort.

[ifstatement]

(Original post by Koobideh)
When you're a child you cannot be reasoned with, so a little spanking is the only way to teach them. I think Britain has changed for the worse in terms of parenting because British parents aren't like how they used to be. Nowadays they let their kids do whatever they want, swear in the street, disrespect teachers, fight at school, etc. This kind of behaviour is all a result of upbringing.

This.

Too many parents in Britain today are thinking spanking is "cruel" or "child abuse" and won't do any serious discipline to their children. Well because of that take a look at how bad the youth is today just like you sad, swearing and disrespecting elders thinking kids can get their own way because they are not being punished enough.

Children can't be reasoned with, even if you tell them to stop they will do it again so that's where you get the slipper.

Heck even THE BEANO had Dennis the Menace being spanked by his dad, do you think that's child abuse and cruel? No the little bastard deserved it multiple times and I'm sure children back then were more obedient too.

[Zhy]

I like being spanked... mmm, make it legal!

[~Kat~]

I think smacking should only be used as a last resort, but banning it would be ridiculous.

[buchanan700]

Never. Spanking creates fear, not respect. Why be a hypocrite when there are far more effective methods available? I certainly don't want to teach my kids that violence is OK.
Besides that, if you automatically spank out of anger/ frustration, where's the guarantee that you won't accidentally hit too hard? Create a mark etc.

[Tensei]

Of course there solutions can be created without hitting, however, most people cannot wait or take the time to explain thoroughly and so beat them.

I know that I wont because there is always a way to deal with these problems.

[Pride]

(Original post by omnomnom1234)
you should try being asian
parents beat the helllll out of you even more than black people man!

i beg to differ!

[Dalek1099]

YES because behaviour is getting so bad,it seems necessary.Behaviour was a lot better in ,when canes were allowed,so who could argue against that?Often children are nasty,so they deserve to be hit.If children feel pain from a certain action,they won't do it again.There are other ways-don't let children out because this puts your child in danger of learning from bad people and being away from your influence and humiliating your child,picking them up from school in Secondary but if all else fails you must discipline your child,by hitting them.

[swbp]

Personally I don't intend on scaring my child into behaving well. I accept completely that others want to, but I'll never be hitting an infant.

[omnomnom1234]

(Original post by Pride)
i beg to differ!

haha we should have a compettition to see who could get mostt bruises

[Language_student]

(Original post by Claudine)
I thought that generally people had stopped spanking their children as a punishment (apart from child abuse which is different). However today I was watching an episode of supernanny and Jo who was dealing with parents to still spanked their children.

Do you think that it should still be used as a punishment or not?

I don't think it should be used, I know kids are hard to communicate with sometimes, but I believe that violence should never be the answer.

Discuss.

A disturbingly high amount of people on the poll have said yes.
I'm with you -- I think violence of any kind is not the answer. Just because your child did something wrong is not an excuse to hit them. If it happened in an adult relationship we would call it domestic violence.

[Jimbo1234]

(Original post by Claudine)
I thought that generally people had stopped spanking their children as a punishment (apart from child abuse which is different). However today I was watching an episode of supernanny and Jo who was dealing with parents to still spanked their children.

Do you think that it should still be used as a punishment or not?

I don't think it should be used, I know kids are hard to communicate with sometimes, but I believe that violence should never be the answer.

Discuss.

Sorry, but you are utterly wrong.
Why do you think that you can reason with someone who would prefer to run about in a pirate costume all day over normal clothes? Also, with how fickle children's memories are, unless you make a big impact on them, they won't remember what happened so trying to reason with them will go in one ear and out the other.

[ROYP]

(Original post by Chronist)
No, you literally don't have time now (in fact, you have warnings), so now go and troll somewhere else.

[Tootles]

(Original post by mabrookes)
No, you used base instincs to stop getting hurt. You also happened to learn right from wrong along the way completely unrelated to this.

Proof?

[Kibalchich]

(Original post by Blame)
Yes when talking has failed.

Repeated hitting no, dont go mental. Im saying yes in the case where the first time a child being spanked should cause fear to be associated so they dont repeat the action or an action similar to again.

Yep, teach your kids to fear you. Good plan

[Logi]

Beats the punishment my 7 year old nephews teacher gave him for talking too much in class which was to sit in the corner and read. Really annoyed me when I found out as it's effectively teaching him that reading/books are a punishment which isn't an attitude that's going to be particularly useful to him in education. Fortunately my nephew is too smart for them and treats any punishment they give him as an enjoyable activity just to piss them off

[Shan<3]

Maybe for really serious things, or when reasoning just isn't going to get through. I can remember being terrified when my parents were going to smack me. Not sure whether it did any good. My child-minder used to smack me too, can't say I agree with that! But hey, I turned out alright. I'm actually very anti-violence!
I can't imagine hitting my own child... but then I don't have any so maybe I can't comment! I think a sharp tap on the hand for extreme circumstances might suffice...

[diggy]

(Original post by ROYP)
Would like someone who voted 'yes' to state their case...

I got spanked and it's done me no harm as long as your not proper beating the kid like your in a fighting match it's not to bad

But the key is too explain to the child why they are being spanked because if you don't it just defeats the point.My parents also told me why i was being hit then in the future i obviously didn't do it again and I also stopped doing the wrong thing because I could see they weren't enjoying it and it hurt them to spank me

but admittedly i'd rather warn the child and if they continue spank

Overall I'd leave spanking as a last resort

[AverageExcellence]

Those nanny'ing shows are clearly scripted and dont reflect true reality. You dont solve a lifetime of a child's problems in a weekend with some foolish sitting on step rules the like. Spanking can be used to assert authority, it doesnt have to be the first resort, only when children show blatant disrespect and ignore the less physical methods deliberately.