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smack attack
"12 European countries have made it illegal for parents to spank their children -- Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Norway, Romania, Sweden, and Ukraine. Spanking is also prohibited in Israel and the Supreme Court of Italy banned corporal punishment in families in 1996."
Today the House of Lords have voted to restrict the use of 'reasonable chastisement' and it will be illegal to bruise, scratch or redden (transitory reddening is not illegal) children's skin or use implements to hit them. For most of us, this does not go far enough, but for some seriously fucked up people this represents the workings of a 'Nanny State' and is a bad thing.
Some people are concerned that this will mean that 'Loving Parents' will be thrown into prison. I can tell you that my team and our local Police Child Protection Team have always considered damaging a child or using an implement on them to cause damage, child abuse. I cannot remember any parents ever being imprisoned for this level of abuse and it is unusual even when bones are broken. 'Loving Parents' can lose control and can harm their children. 'Loving Partners' can lose control and harm their partners. When it's adults we call it (domestic) abuse. Why can't everyone agree to call it child abuse when it happens to children?
Sadly, there isn't a child in the McMuffin household to practise on. Slinky will have to stand in. When he screams at me at 4.30am tomorrow morning I am going to 'smack' him (without causing damage or anything other than a transitory reddening of his skin) to teach him not to do this in future. As he is a cat, he cannot be reasoned with, but he must learn that this behaviour is wrong.
I suspect that if I really were to do this, Slinky would not come round again (children don't have this luxury) and Mr McMuffin would divorce me. However, I would have the satisfaction that comes from knowing I have taught Slinky right from wrong and that Mr McMuffin is a soft hearted, woolly liberal who would have young Slinky growing up to be a criminal or drug addict. Sometimes it's a lonely, but righteous path I walk.
update
Slinky did not yell last night. I wonder why.
mr mcmuffin on 8 Jul 2004 @ 11:38 PM ✲ Permalink
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Funny you should say that, because I caught Slinky out the back smoking a fag the other day. He looked a bit guilty, but all I could get out of him was dumb insolence (my dad was in the army, and he was big on dumb insolence) and the occasional meooow.
Posted by: mr mcmuffin | 9 Jul 2004 07:40:02
Don't you dare lay a hand on that sweet little Slink. But I must admit I've come close to throwing my cat across the room when she does her ear-shattering wail.
Hey!!! I just got the postcard you sent. Thanks very much! I love it!!! Looks like a lovely, wonderful place!!!!
Posted by: Norah Nick | 9 Jul 2004 09:58:17
From what I've been told, it still happens within Danish homes, of course, but probably not as much. And you'll certainly never see parents whacking their children on the street or at the supermarket, which is such a nasty side of British society.
British child beaters - most British parents, it seems - believe to such a degree that they're doing the right thing that they have absolutely no shame about doing it in public.
For parents who hit their children, to change their views now would be tantamount to admitting that they are or were bad parents, from what I can tell.
This can't have been different in the other countries you list, but at least they don't have an unelected House of Lords getting in the way when making such policies.
Having said that, it appears to be about more than just law-making. I'd love to know what the socio-cultural reasons are for this gulf in the opinions and behaviour between the UK and much of continental Europe.
Only then, by understanding the causes of British people's attitudes towards their children, will be really be able to tackle the problem.
In the end, I suppose the social change element of the 1960s and early '70s was lost on the UK, which got distracted by fashion, capitalism and the worship of fame instead.
I blame the Victorians!
Posted by: David (TEFL Smiler) | 9 Jul 2004 14:04:16
David, your right, but I think it is even wider than what people feel about themselves as parents, the issue also has to involve how they feel about their own parents, and the way in which they have been raised. By the way, a fasinating social work survey carried out a couple of years ago revealed that something in the region of 84% of parents disagreed with 'smacking' children, but surprisingly, 98% admitted that they smacked their children. This gives some credence to the idea that hitting children is an angry reaction from parents, and designed only to make parents feels better about their lack of control over another individual.
Posted by: mr mcmuffin | 9 Jul 2004 14:21:07
According to Arkansas law, beating children is not only legal, but encouraged. Especially redheaded stepchildren.
Mrs. DocLee is losing sleep wondering how one goes about flicking the faces of those dancing white girls. Please advise so she'll leave me alone. Thank you.
Posted by: Darren | 9 Jul 2004 22:18:48
Tell Mrs Doc Lee to imagine rolling up a small ball of paper and flicking it across a table. Now apply the same flicking movement to the nose of a woman dancing US white girly style. I can't be in the US myself to do it, so I'm relying on her to carry out the good work.
I think there's an exemption in the UK bill for red heade step children.
Posted by: mrs mcmuffin | 10 Jul 2004 00:55:59
The Mrs. was not too keen on the idea of personally flicking those silly girls until I assured her that tequila would be involved.
She's so easy!
Posted by: Darren | 13 Jul 2004 02:52:53
I'm slapping my forehead. Forgot to mention the tequila in my instructions. Glad that's all sorted now.
Posted by: mrs mcmuffin | 14 Jul 2004 00:33:49
