Smacking your child. Yes or No?

I have just finished watching “Supernanny”. This reality TV show has a nanny helping parents deal with their naughty children. And these children are very very naughty. They throw tantrums, swear, spit & physically attack their parents. The nanny then has all sorts of tips and tricks to help the parents “discipline” the kids.

Now as I remember, I wouldn’t ever EVER dare do anything of those things when I was a child. Had I done it, my dad would literally have given me a hiding that would’ve stopped me using my behind for about a week. I’m not exaggerating either.

I now think that my dad was slightly too hard on me, but I don’t see the harm in smacking a child under these circumstances. It teaches “absolute discipline”. I think this is needed. To illustrate: if a child doesn’t listen and runs into a busy road they will get killed. There is no discussing why you can’t walk into the road – it will be too late.

I suppose I’m from a more hostile environment (South Africa), but as a child growing up there were numerous instances where this kind of absolute discipline really saved my bacon.

I also believe that the tendency in the UK to pussy foot around discipline has a lot to do with the current abhorrent yob culture that is taking over the UK. My final thought: if parents don’t discipline their kids it is just going to get worse and worse.