Playing with fire

Absolutely categorically think that smacking (hitting) anyone, especially if they love you are smaller than you and dependant upon you is wrong. As for the smacking shows you love them brigade, well words fail me. You do realise that is the excuse used by those monsters who beat their partners black and blue? How would any of you feel if I lost my temper and smacked your grandchild if they were being noisy or misbehaving? You would be outraged of course. The only thing different is who is doing the hitting

Unable to assimilate and see things in shades of grey.

Baffling in adults.

iam64

As a nursing sister and a district nurse for 25 years I had many dealings with SS.

Obviously there are some excellent practise but in my area the whole dept of child safeguarding was found not fit for purpose.

Many dreadful examples.

That was your experience Mycat, and I don't dispute that. In 40 plus years, I saw some poor safeguarding decisions not just in social work but in all the associated professions including nursing and teaching.

The crux of the matter here though is the question as to whether smacking/hitting children should become illegal. There are arguments for and against that proposal. What is blindingly obvious is that a parent who smacks out once, leaving no hand print, not using an implement, not 'beating' a child is never going to find themselves up before a court. Social workers and Police officers are over loaded with cases of significant abuse in all its horrible forms.

iam64

I completely agree with you but it will lead to ‘normal’ parents being reported and investigated and usually cleared but by doing so could cause extreme distress to otherwise excellent parents.

I think a complete ban is totally ineffective anyway as bad parents won’t stop being bad parents and continue to abuse but maybe not so blatantly in public.

Was the question in the original post meant to be more about whether Wales may want to seek independence from the UK because they wish to decide some of their own laws or was it meant to be about this specific issue?

If, as some of the msm claims, parents may be sent to prison for smacking their children in Wales (does this apply to visitors to Wales as well as Welsh residents?) the prisons may well become even more overcrowded and families broken up, when in fact I thought the aim of modern thinking is to try to keep families together.

If, of course, this is all true.

Callistemon
The broader issue of independence.

That's what I thought Gabriella

In answer to your question: no, as I said in my earlier post.

The Welsh Assembly will talk about it for years, anyway.

I was only smacked once in my life ,I was goaded into saying a word I shouldn't and goaded into repeating it again and agian so my dad would hear me.He did and he smacked me .
He sat on the bed beside me and cried with me and never lifted a hand to any of us again...the others were never smacked .Years later he admitted he knew his sister has d engineered it because she had been beaten, as had he , as a child and she thought that as I swore once and he hadn't heard me and got punished for it she insisted I keep repeating it until he did.Its not necessary to hit small children to get them to behave .if it wa an adult saying "I ONLY HIT YOU BECAUSE YOU DESERVED IT "We would rightly be horrified.Bullies HIT .Surely we all teach our children not to hit others so why would we think its fine to hit them?

Good post paddyann and spot on. My mother behaves at times very much like child does (she has dementia). I wonder what we would be saying if she was being "smacked" by a carer or family member.

A child's cognitive skills are being formed and my mother's cognitive skills are disappearing. Both can be "irritating", "unreasonable" and "upsetting" if that is how you chose to see their words and actions. However, if you can understand why someone with dementia should be treated kindly and her limitations understood how can people not understand a child's limitations too and treat them with kindness.

GracesGranMK3

Your mum sounds like mine. It’s a hideous disease isn’t it. Very sad and challenging to deal with.

Very, Mycat. I don't think there is any way it can't be, as time goes by. We don't have a dedicated thread for those caring for or diagnosed with dementia, do we?

No we don't have a thread GGMk3 so perhaps we should. I have just come out the other side of it so to speak as my Mother has just died. Pm me if you wish. X

I think that’s a wonderful idea GracesGran

GillT57

I've contacted GNHQ to ask if there is something we could do in this area. Fingers crossed.