A poorly constructed article, which fails to set out the current legal situation coherently, and calls for action which is clearly not justified by the irrelevant material put forward.

For someone seeking employment with the corrupt and useless United Nations, production of a turgid article like this would no doubt be a commendation.

For sensible people, seeking constructive discussion, it is an irritation.

failing to discipline one's children is gutless and will usually produce violent kids in our society. Only the blinded can't see what has happened since the social engineers took over 50 years ago. Snake has done well to point that out. First they want fatherless kids and when they lose there they want emasculated fathers. The real child and society abusers are those who fail to smack their children when they are rebellious and anti social.

I noted your remarks regarding Singapore HASBEEN and I wondered if you had seen this.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=8eb_1269138010

It shows how a drunken driver is punished in Singapore and while I don't endorse this sort of thing for the offence committed, I'm willing to bet the guy won't offend again. It might be a week or so before he sits down again.

Smacking is wrong and the college of surgeons is right.

Give us break you morons. Haven't you caused enough harm already ?

I have read responses from people whose whole argument is based on how they raised their children. That's not data folks, that's your own, tiny experience. Surely one "I hit my kids and they're fine" cancels out one "I didn't and they're fine" - or the other way around.

The problem with this is that it's the beginning of the slippery slope. As a Principal with over 22 years experience, it is the mindset that comes with "no smacking" that is the problem. From my experience (100s of families and 1000s of students NOT just my kids) is that the non-smacker tends (not universal, I said "tends") to also be a no boundaries sort of person. Or, if not, hasn't actually worked out how to maintain the boundaries without smacking (Let's face it - it's not easy).

Going against my own opening point, I will mention that I have two well adjusted teenagers, and I didn't smack.

I am tired of me, or my staff, being the first person in these kid's lives to tell them "no" when they do something wrong. You talk to the parents and they either (in order of common response) i) Don't care, ii) Get angry with you for how you have treated their child or iii) Throw up their hands and say "What can you do?" A distant 4th is "That's terrible, how can we work together?"

This argument needs a lot more thought.

It is not a "latin quotation", snake.

>>In spite of your latin quotation Pericles, ! do think there is causal correlation between the lack of physical discipline and anti social behaviour.<<

Post hoc, ergo propter hoc is the descriptor of a common logical fallacy.

My own view is that violence inevitably perpetuates violence.

Our prisons and corrective facilities are well stocked with violent people who were beaten in their childhood. An ex-colleague of mine who spent a number of years in prisoner-counselling told me that it was extremely rare to come across any inmate who had not experienced corporal punishment in his youth.

In fact, he couldn't actually think of any, among the hundreds he had interviewed.

But that neither supports nor negates my position, in the same way that your own anecdotal evidence neither proves nor disproves your assertion that the presence of corporal punishment is the key element that makes streets safer. There are many more socio-economic aspects that contribute to our safety. I'm sure you could probably think of some if you put your mind to it.

Meanwhile, runner...

>>failing to discipline one's children is gutless...<<

Oh, really? And belting them is, what... courageous?

Let me see if I have this right. You are unable to communicate to a child that there are boundaries, and that they are expected to stay within them. So, as a result of this failure, you give them a whack.

Are you sure you are hitting the right person? Sounds like you are in fact taking out your own shortcomings on them.

And I expect that calling people gutless because they don't share your opinion makes you feel better about yourself. Every little helps, I guess. Perhaps, one day, there may be some relief from the self-loathing.