Smacking bottoms

I occasionally get asked to be a "layman commentator" for Radio Wales. I have to hovver on a particular spot where the phone sounds best, and then have to make a snap decision as to whether to give my planned answer or to make up something completely new when the question is different to what I'd expected. Last week was a prime example...

David Lammy MP had said that people have told him that the riots happened because parents are banned from smacking their kids. I thought this was a bit of a cop out to say just because some liberal lefty said you can't do something in your own home when the doors are shut. Firstly, people tend to do what they re going to do anyway. Secondly, lefties say lots of things, but no one takes much notice of the other things (I've been called a woodie leftie on many occasions, so I should know, and there are lots of other ways to discipline your kids other than wacking them.

But then I got to thinking...

Lots of people say, "my parents used to smack me (not batter me and I know there is a difference) and it never did me any harm " and we usually nod nicely and move on, but then I thought - my parents smacked me, and I m the goodest person I know! I always obey rules and get very worried when people I am with don't - I still feel guilty for going through a door the other day when there was a notice saying Use Other Door ( I couldn't see another door, so sneaked out anyway - nothing too bad happened!). So maybe smacking does work - PROPERLY work.

Dogs cuff and bite their naughty puppies, cats scratch the eyes out of their naughty kittens and maybe so in Nature we should whack our kids? Maybe we should accept that, no, it's not very pleasant, but neither is nagging children to eat their greens, but we still feel it's right for the greater good to do that.

Maybe we are thinking our kids are more flimsy than they really are - I mean, what would our kids really say if we all suddenly started smacking them again?

"didn't hurt..."
" ha ha - you got told off!"
" can't make me"
" smack him too, it was his idea "