Smacking ban has created unruly children
THERE is a world of difference between a smack given to a child raised in a loving, caring and nurturing environment as a form of discipline, and an abusive home in which a child is raised in fear. As a child, I was abused and beaten when I was living in a difficult environment. I was also deservedly smacked during my time in local authority care. However, over the past few decades, it has been argued that smacking produces children who grow up to believe violence is acceptable. The rights of parents to lovingly discipline their children has been removed and is now frowned upon by society. But instead of producing Utopia, this has contributed towards a disrespectful, spoilt, self-centred generation. The children’s home in which I lived for seven years allowed the staff to smack us as a form of discipline. I felt secure there as we knew the boundaries and the home was run in an orderly way. I visited that children’s home some years after the smacking ban came into force. What I discovered was anarchy. I was shocked to discover that respect for the staff had gone and all boundaries had been removed. Swearing and violence towards the staff, unheard of in my day, was common place. My wife Lesley and I have raised four children, and they have been disciplined with a loving smack when necessary. They are all well-adjusted, well-behaved, polite and respectful. Rev MARK EDWARDS, Newcastle upon Tyne.