I feel sorry for parents today. So many people tell them not to smack their children. They are told that smacking only modifies behaviour in the short-term. They are told that it models violent behaviour and can therefore teach the child to be violent towards others.
If a child’s behaviour must be changed then they are told that it can be done more effectively by other non-violent means. The logic of these arguments, based as they are on the social psychology of aggression and the behaviourist theory of reinforcement, seems to be irrefutable.
Yet many parents remember being smacked as children and do not believe it did them any harm. Grandparents and others from the older generation can tell them to be stricter with their children and to use ‘a good smack’ if necessary. In addition, if Christian parents turn to the Bible they find that it seems to endorse physical punishment, as do some of the more conservative churches (1). So what are parents to do? Nobody wants to be responsible for bringing up violent children, but is not smacking actually making children less violent? Or are they in fact less controllable and less respectful of authority?
