Recent movements within the government indicate that smacking might soon be outlawed. iVillagers' give their views on whether smacking is an acceptable disciplinary method or not

Against the smacking ban
Being a parent is a tough enough job - the last thing we need is someone telling us how we can and cannot punish our children. Being smacked does not damage children, it is a momentary sensation that is gone as quickly as it happens, but it does serve a valuable purpose, if your kids respond to it. I, like most parents, know the difference between smacking and beating a child, and the two are very different.
stephiefilby

Smacking never did me any harm. When I was a child the threat of a smack from my father was usually enough to stop me from misbehaving, but I very rarely actually got one. I believe that a child should have some form of discipline, and if that means either threatening, or actually smacking a child, then so be it. I have found that if I try to reason with my kids when they misbehave, they just laugh. But if I threaten to smack them, they behave, so smacking does work for us.
charminbear

Smacking is a punishment for some wrongdoing and a reminder not to do it again. When I was at school, corporal punishment was still perfectly acceptable, and children behaved better. If an adult told them not to do something, they didn't shout back and do it anyway, because they knew the teacher could take physical action against them.
mossstitch

I was smacked as a child, I've also been beaten, so I know the difference; a smack on the legs is a punishment, a smack on the face is abusive. I can remember being smacked as a child and knowing it was justified. I also remember the times when it wasn't justified and, on those occasions, it was disrespectful, humiliating and wrong. Even as a child I could tell the difference between the two.
jehefinner

The people who beat and otherwise abuse their children know it is 'wrong', and I don't think enshrining it more explicitly in law will make a difference to these people. These things will still occur behind closed doors and we will know nothing about it. What's the point of implementing a new law that will make no difference? pureinnocentsunshine

In support of a smacking ban

When we hit children, we teach them that violence is acceptable, and yet we would not expect our kids to live as adults with the fear of being struck. When does the `smacking' end and the 'hitting' begin? We cannot have one set of rules for adults, and another for children. On moral grounds, I am against smacking; in terms of legislation, I think it's long overdue. I see it as a clear message that hitting children is unacceptable and that the crime will be punished. I think it a cause worthy of the time, money and effort it will require to introduce, and police the legislation.
cl-shemy

In my view, hitting a child (or an adult) is unacceptable. Dressing it up as 'smacking' is trying to make it sound as though it's not actually hitting a child, which it is. Hitting is generally unacceptable in daily life, why should it be OK to wallop a person several times smaller than you? What do we want - independent, confident children growing into adults, or cowering, timid ones? The aim of smacking is to hurt, perhaps only a little, but still to hurt. If someone hit me on the hand or on the bottom, I would have something to say about it.
tpelder

I've smacked my four-year-old daughter several times and always regretted it. I've made a promise to myself that I won't do it any more. When I think about why I've resorted to hitting her, it's always boiled down to me being in a foul mood, exhausted and unable to cope, rather than any particular behaviour of hers - I'm sure that this is the case with many parents.

The reality is that parents who smack can't control their own impulses when they are angry, so end up lashing out at their child. Banning smacking would send out a clear message to all parents that hitting children is socially unacceptable. The law won't stop all abuse, just like the law against drinking and driving won't stop alcoholics from getting behind the wheel, but it will lessen the amount of violence inflicted on children generally, and this can only be a good thing.
wshinds

I don't agree with violence in any shape or form, and hitting a child is violence. I don't believe there is ever a reason to hit children (or adults). All children, even from the youngest age, respond to praise, so resorting to violence against them is unacceptable. I do think domestic violence and hitting a child are similar; both are acts of violence on a smaller, weaker or more vulnerable person. I have four children ranging from five to 19 years old, and have never, and will never, hit any of them.
mexie2001

Hitting, smacking or whatever you want to call it is wrong whether the victim, be he/she a child or an adult. I think the answer is to ban it completely and set down severe punishments for those that fall foul of the law - but not yet.

Eventually the law should be changed, but first there should be help to teach and show parents an alternative. It is easy to hit out when your child is misbehaving, but how many parents know how to have the patience to reason with a toddler? Until those parents are shown the better way to discipline and guide their children, nothing will change. Children will continue to be harmed and our prisons will remain overcrowded.
flatfeet77

Have your say on smacking should be banned. Take a look at that, and some of the other LIVE discussions taking place right now on the debate board: