Should smacking be banned?

It is a physical attack. If i smacked you without your consent i'd get done for assault. 

Interesting that coporal punishment has entered the equation. Would you be willing to sign the consent form that would allow another adult to beat your child??

I think my key point would be things were not better off "back in the day". From what i can tell, there was hell of a lot more civil disobedience 30/40 years ago than there is now.

Also, (to take things to the extreme) it's documented that the Yorkshire Ripper, jack the ripper, fred west, myra hindley, the krays were all products of what would be politely defined as 'robust parenting'.

Whenever i see i child getting smacked i always wonder if they'd do the same if the child could hit back? If the answer to that is any way no, then  you're only interested in hitting things that aren't able to defend themselves which makes you a massive coward.

/Civics and parenting lecture end

Well here's another vote in the yes it should be banned camp.

I am not in favour of the government telling us what to do, but sometimes they have to. The trouble with smacking a child is where does it end and what example is it setting the child?

 As they get bigger just removing their ipod, phone and netbook seems to do the trick

No you would not. If you hit me you'd get done for assult. Not smacking.

Right here is the problem... you're relating to a child getting hit not smacked. Otherwise there would not be the question of if the 'child could hit back'. Smacking is not hitting. Hitting is hitting. This is the distinction. A smack is a tool to get attention not punish, not hurt. This is what hitting is about... hurting and punishing. I 100% agree with gaining attention. I'm totally against hurting.

How can you think it is OK to smack to get your child's attention ....would it then be OK for the child to smack to get attention?   I don't understand sorry.

I have to agree that a smack (lightly on the back of the wrist or the leg) is just to get attention. We are not talking about the sort of smack that lifts a child off the floor as you see some mothers do down your local supermarket.

When you cant explain to a 2 year old what the consequences of pulling a cup of hot tea on themselves is, or the consequences of playing with an electrical socket are (both kept well out of reach in our house but we do visit non kid-households) and they are reaching for third or fourth time, a tap on the back of the reaching hand is in order. This will help the child remember in those split seconds when your back is turned or you are distracted. Here it is being used as prevention rather than post event punishment.

When it comes to post event punishment (i.e. little jimmy has just returned home to find out his parents know that he nicked some sweets from the local newsagents) then the line starts to grey for me. This is best talked through - you wont prevent it from happening by smacking as its already happened, so its better to get them to realise what they have done wrong

I also think it is one of those things where there is no right or wrong answer. Some children will turn out badly if they are smacked and there are others that will turn in to thugs if they are not smacked.

... I'm afraid that I am in the camp where 'a smack never did me any harm'!  I do acknowledge that some people do go too far and that is wrong, but I do also think that some children today relish the lenient attitude that is displayed towards them and I am firmly opposed to the concept of a 'nanny state' with the Government telling us what we shoud do... 

While I agree with that to an extent Danny, by that logic my Mother needs help ;)

I do agree with the reasoning, however I disagree with the Government interfering in situations such as these.

It actually angers me that privileged Etonian muppets feel as though they have the first incling about what it's like to bring up a child in an impoverished council estate surrounded by drugs, crime and violence. 

I'm sure in these environments a light smack is the last thing on a child's mind. In fact, it was enough to make me realise how big a muppet I was being on occassion (I was brought up firmly on the concept of "Mum knows best" mind you). 

Blanket bans, rules and stupid legislating in areas such as these by people who are so far removed from reality that they couldn't distinguish their arses from their elbows, well that's what really grates at me. 

This sums it up for me. My 5 year old daughter has never caused us much bother at all and I can't remember ever smacking her.

Her 2 year old brother on the other hand was placed on this planet to test anyone's patience! The occasional smack I've had to give him is because he can't be reasoned with and he's about to do something where he needs a shock to stop him.

A light tap always results in him bursting into tears and running to the other parent.