Ah little Miss No-kids yet.
Story from my childhood. School Bully was bigger than most and delighted in throwing his weight around. Left school went into pub and pushed another patron who took offence. School Bully was happy to sort this little altercation outside. SB was then given a flogging. I still savour the thought of him being given that life lesson.
No one believes flogging children is anything but bad. However parents now allow us to be subjected to screaming temper tantrums in every shopping centre in Australia. If you are not in control as the parent then we have anarchy and that is hopeless for the kids too. A quick rap or slap soon shows the little darlings how life is really. I suppose you want a Universal Human Right to cable TV, personal IPad and broadband too? Enjoy paying off your HECS debt and find out where your tax dollars go.

I think society goes from one extreme to the other on so many left issues and never quite gets it right.
This is yet another example.

I support parents right to smack or disciple their kids but I wouldn't advocate it as the standard go-to punishment.

Firstly I support the idea of making your child do push-ups as a first tier of punishment.
"Drop and give me 10 push-ups"

There's two reasons for this.
The first is that it gives the parent time to calm down a little bit and decide on a fairer punishment while they (the parent) may be in a state of anger at the childs behaviour.

The second is that they can then calmly think of a much better punishment (while the child is doing push-ups) for what the child did wrong.

Which brings in all of the second-tier type punishments.
Restricting internet use; taking away tablets or game consoles; not going somewhere they wanted; time outs; no pocket-money; losing privileges etc.

Finally if a kid really pushes their luck too far they need to know there's a line to the type of behavior which won't be tolerated.
If all the other punishments have been done and the child has been warned, and taught to know better and still wants to push their luck too far then I think a parent does have a right to smack their child.

In nature animals do it.
Animals will sternly nip or bunt their offspring to correct their behavior.
I don't think parents should have their hands completely tied when it comes to disciplining kids, and I think there's also a case that not smacking some kids enough and letting them get away with bad behavior may produce just as many dysfunctional adults in society.

Dear old dear. Angelika I suggest you look at the violence we now have in schools since parents became to decieved or cowardly to smack their children. To suggest smacking children is violence is idiotic at the best and deceitful at the worst. The no smacking brigade by and large have produced a self centred, self righteous brigade who are more violent than any other generation here in Australia. Look at the getup/green/socialist mob who spit in peoples faces, refuse to allow views contrary to their own and are a disgrace to our nation. Many of them are uni students who have dumbed down views like you Angelika. Smacking worked tremendously well in my family and usually hurts the discipliner more than the child receiving what they need not to become the spoilt brats many have made today. Talk to a few teachers in school and take off your blinkers.

Children learn what they live and if timeout achieves the same outcome why would anything more be required, unless our kids are substitutes for punching bags and are an all too easy target to vent our frustrations on?

Look willful Kids can drive a parent around the bend, particularly when there's also financial and emotional stress? Which is when you need to send the offenders to their room while you take a walk, to walk off your understandable frustrations.

Life has a way of hurrying by and all too soon the kids have grown up and away. And the precious time we get to spend with them is just too quickly over and gone; to spoil it with stuff that comes back to bite when you're old and alone?

I believe we can all learn from our parents on child raising?

Even so, when the cogent evidence presents a better way, nothing is gained by looking at it subjectively and with a foregone conclusion! Look at the evidence and if you're wrong, be big enough to accept the incontrovertible evidence and apply a different paradigm!

Simply put, there isn't a problem too big to be solved by the application of enough love, even where at times that has to be tough love and saying what you mean and meaning what you say from the get go! Which more often than not needs to be no! Not maybe or perhaps, which is best reserved for the spouse and applied stringently to avoid unpleasant outcomes?
Alan B.

Oh Dear another misguided person. As JBowyer said the spoiled brats being inflicted on the rest of us by people like the author is beyond the pale.

Democracy is violence...how much violence do you want banned ?

I think frequent use of smacking a child, gives rise to increased anxiety in that child. As I noted in a link from the article which referenced depression as a consequence of the use of corporal punishment of children.
Society is in a constant state of change. How it can be possible to entirely attribute depressive children to smacking, seems a bit thin in evidence really.
With an ever increasing incidence of one parent households, stretched for resources, and a dwindling ability of one parent to fulfil every need and whim of a child, seems equally likely this may have an effect on the mental state of the parent and consequently the child.
Personality traits are also hereditary: That factor would feature in the make-up of the child also.
It's tough being a young parent. It's stressful and often unforgiving on many levels. Parents get to the point of strung out, and many lash out from frustration.
Children can often be the first base for relief of frustrations, under these circumstances.

The best way to relieve the pressure on children, is to assist the parents!

I think if every parent was truthful, they may remember at least one moment in their child's life where they may have received a smack from their parents? Even a little smack? I know I did once when my young daughter ran away from me towards a busy road.

Even so, we don't seem to have multiple cases of family violence in every household where the parents were smacked as children do we? So there must be other variables to the causes of family violence then.

Just attributing family violence to one-parent households is not the answer either. If that were so, wouldn't we have seen a surge in family violence after each of the world wars, when so many children were left without one or both parents killed in the war?

There is, however, a very fine line between disciplining your child with a mild slap on their hand, and going that one step further and really hurting them in a violent way.
It is the parents that don't know the difference that are the problem.

Oh dear.

How young.

How naïve.

How left.

It never hurt a child to be smacked. I was, my husband was, my children were and my daughter, who is a pre-school teacher who vowed NEVER, has smacked her youngest wild and uncontrollable boy. I am not talking about being bashed.

It's a reminder to a child that their behaviour is unacceptable when talking to them about it, or these days discussing it, does nothing.

I see spoilt brats of all ages dragging stock off supermarket shelves with 'mummy' softly telling them that they have 'discussed' this!!

Really? She had a discussion with a toddler?

SF,
"It never hurt a child to be smacked."
If that's true, how could it have had any effect at all (positive or negative)?

Every action, including doing nothing, has consequences. Smacking can cause harm. But banning it would cause more harm IMO.

As a previous child safety practitioner in NT and in Qld I am only too aware of the EXCESSES of parental 'discipline' whether it be physical, verbal and/or emotional. I suggest however that 'in the real world' most 'sane' parents need to occasionally let their children know that their are unpleasant consequences for willful misbehavior including a 'smack on the bum' if they try it on too far. Obviously other forms can be utilized as appropriate - time out, losing privileges, not TV watching, etc. Actions must bring consequences - sometimes not appreciated by those who flout the rules [aka speeding, etc] as well as children telling parents that they have 'child rights' which must? be greater than parental rights . . .

Balance is needed in everything. It would be great if academic feminists decrying domestic violence also started speaking out and lobbying for compulsory lessons in high school for all classes to understand that anger management is a pre-requisite for harmony in male/female [and homossexual/lesbian et al] relationhips and that respectful commmunication is a good start. . . also the lack of $$$$ and Court-ordered mandatory programs [compared to funding DV shelters and protection of battered females by males] is a factor as to why male perpetrator programs are pretty thin on the radar/ground. Programs that actually are funded to the level if female programs and services to address why some males are so 'dysfunctional' [past traumas themselves and/or role modelling]. Programs to counsel them and unravel and heal their inherent traumas may go part way of stopping a perpetrator just going from one dv victim to the next to the next without breaking the circles.

THe obvious question to ask (don't ever expect it from the abc) is that if a few more young ones had of got a smack occasionaly would we have young green women spitting in peoples face and claiming she did not know its wrong, a youngish woman Labour canditates posted herself on facebook with a giant condom, teachers being assualted at a rate like never before. I think the answer is obvious however we know now that academia teaches people how to justify shameless actions and simply push completely failed and warped narratives. The smacking is violence brigade heads this warped narrative.

The saddest thing about this, is that the author will find out that her pet idea did not work in the next thirty ir forty years.

Either she will have cathartic idea or hold on to her mistaken belief like a sailor hanging onto an anchor.

As the author of this article, I feel the need to supply additional information to other members who have commented on this article.

I am 36 years old, married, and I have two children, aged 7 and 3. I have always held the belief that children should not be hit by their parents, no matter how this might seem justifiable, and my current research on the topic supports this position. As such, I have never smacked my children. They are both very polite, well-adjusted and overall very well-behaved. I have found that reasoning, explaining, and modelling the behaviour that I expect from them has always worked to create the discipline I expect from young children.
Hitting is never necessary and, as the article clearly states, may create many problems both in the short and long term.
I respect the opinions of members who wish to comment on this article, but I felt that it was necessary to supply this information so that members may be better informed about what they are commenting on.

Anglelika,

there are a number of twins studies and sibling studied to be examined.

There a few studies into adopted children that show hereditary can play a big part in influencing their behaviour. One story comes to mind about an adopted child, raised in a very privileged household, with the best of education, only to become a criminal. I think he was a murderer.

Have a look at a study of Victorian prisoners, something like 50% of them showed signs of having an acquired brain injury, this covers things like fetal alcohol syndrome.

There is another study into the effects of lead levels in children and the co-incidence of how the level of violence in society decreased with the decrease use of leaded petrol.

Interesting studies into the why for example, not all children raised in an alcoholic family become alcoholics

Smacking is not required when you can reason with the other.

Trouble is many children/youths lack the capability to reason...

Are we testing their reason capabilities, then working to improve them ?

.