Lorraine Taylor No problem with smacking a child - the problem is always the parent doing it - a
smack correctly used teaches respect.
I remember a couple of instances being
smacked as a child.
I can understand the primitive feeling of wanting to
smack as any other mum can, when the two lovelies become two monsters, but have found it thankfully fairly easy to resist.
If a woman ends up arrested because she has
smacked her child for screaming in a supermarket it would be absolutely ridiculous.
I would tell her I'd give her a
smack when I got hold of her, but by the time I found her, I was always too relieved to think about hitting her."
"I think it's very important for children to be shown who's boss and sometimes a
smack can help to do that."
Research reveals that kids who are
smacked are less likely to understand why their behaviour was wrong compared with kids who are disciplined by other methods.
Denise admits she was
smacked regularly when she was growing up, and now
smacks her own daughters almost daily.
Living in Cwmbran, with her two daughters, Page, 11, and Charlie, eight, (her eldest Amy has moved away from home), the 37-year-old admits she was
smacked regularly when she was growing up, and now
smacks her own daughters on an almost daily basis.
But many mums and dads defend their right to administer a warning
smack, perhaps a tap to the hand,after persistent bad behaviour.
The 36 year old, from Thamesmead, never
smacks her kids and says she prefers other forms of discipline.
"We would not want to see parents prosecuted for minor
smacks, but we believe there should be more support available to parents to find alternative ways of managing and dealing with children's behaviour."
Public policy officer Jayne Isaac said: "We do not want to see parents prosecuted for minor
smacks, but we do advocate alternative methods of punishment in our projects, which have a no smacking policy.
He said a survey of 1,800 parents showed that fewer now
smacked their children.
'Under my amendment, parents will still be able to
smack their children if they don't harm them physically or mentally,' Lord Lester said.