I've just arrived back and picked up on the French children link - we lived in a little French village for a bit - a bit too long actually - and hoards of French children/teenagers came to the village hall to get so drunk they slept on benches, in gardens and garages, wherever they could and their parents seemed not to notice or care. The French are very good at that and yet brushing up the public image nicely.
Smacking - oh yes indeed I smacked mine own but so wish we had the reward system that seems to work so well now - the main thing which is so lacking in all ages is to say no and mean just that. Some things you can do and others no.
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