The Anti-Smacking Law: a step forward or a load of ****?

Discussion in 'Human Science' started by spaceChild, Jun 10, 2009.

  1. spaceChild Registered Member

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    Many years ago corporal punishment was banned marked as cruel, unethical and other bad words. Now it's illegal to smack a child anywhere for anything. This law bans the mildest use of force to correct children not just smacking.

    Is it a good thing or are we just going soft on the next generation?
     
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  3. EmmZ It's an animal thing Registered Senior Member

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    Where has this law been passed? Could you give us a link to some information? How would they police this law for children with dark skin? How would they prove a child has been subjected to criminal violence if an abusive parent or care giver uses methods which (or that) doesn't leave marks? I'm not a huge advocate of smacking, but I'm not wholly against it. I do think that once someone's reached a point of smacking it usually indicates they've lost control. I don't think smacking a child throwing a tantrum in a supermarket necessarily stops the child's behaviour, but I see how a desperate parent can use it as a desperate measure to try to gain control over the situation.
     
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  5. ripleofdeath Registered Senior Member

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    why are retarded adults being allowed to breed wholesale when they cant even match wits with a 6 year old child ?


    the reality is not adults going soft on kids but...
    parents have become vastly more retarded and incapable
     
    Last edited: Jun 11, 2009
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  7. CutsieMarie89 Zen Registered Senior Member

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    Working with small children, I can understand why a parent might "smack" their child. Some of them can be absolute terrors. I don't encourage spanking unless it is extremely effective on your child, but spanking or no I do think parents are too soft on their kids. Disrespect among little kids these days is disgraceful, I don't know how parents tolerate it.
     
  8. spaceChild Registered Member

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    In New Zealand the anti-smacking bill became a law in 2007. It is also put in place in Sweden but New Zealand has put in place the strictest anti-smacking law in the world.

    The police guidelines acknowledge children are unpredictable. A smack is okay to stop a child running onto a road, experimenting with electrical outlets or behaving in a criminal or offensive way that may harm themselves or others.

    Police can also look the other way if the smack is deemed inconsequential or so light it doesn't matter.

    But if it comes to police attention, it will be recorded.

    Civilians may also report if they see behaviour they deem abusive.

    One case found inconsequential, a 40year old woman walking with her son to the car with the grocerys was punched in the nose by her 3year old son. She punched him back.

    Some may have heard about the poor girl in NZ who was shoved in a dryer by her uncle and and other family members. I'm certain that the law was put in place to make monsters that could do this sort of thing think twice. As well as making a harsher punishment for such abusers.
     
  9. spaceChild Registered Member

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  10. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    ditto. I don't believe its illegal for a parent to spank a child.
     
  11. spaceChild Registered Member

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    I have to post twenty posts first unfortunately. However if you google it you'll be able to find a link to a webpage by the NZ Herald stating when the bill was made a law (2007)

    I realise my country is small and much of our news probably doesn't make worldwide headlines but I felt that this was of some importance.
     
  12. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    ah, is NZ New Zealand?
    I was thinking it was law in the USA
     
  13. spaceChild Registered Member

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    Yup it's New Zealand. I can't imagine a law like that being passed in America. You still have the death penalty.
     
  14. Asguard Kiss my dark side Valued Senior Member

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    CutsieMarie89

    you work in child care right?
    you have multiple children under your care, more than MOST parents would have to deal with at a time?

    How often do you smack them?

    I mean seriously, if teachers and child care workers can manage to control children without resorting to physical vilonce why cant parents?

    As far as the laws in South Australia (and i belive its common law so it would cover the whole country as far as i know) the actual law relates to what you cant do rather than what you can. It states if ANYTHING other than the palm of the hand is used or if there is any red mark left (or worse oviously), then its abuse.

    Not perfect but the best we have currently. As for stopping a child doing something dangerious, how many parents would smack a child about to run onto the road or put there hand in hot water or pull the pan down on themself or stick there hand in an electric socket ect?

    I would suggest its more likly the parent would grab them (either around the chest or by the hand in danger depending on the situation) and physically pull them AWAY from that danger. This is oviously a more LOGICAL approch (especially if in smacking them they then fall ONTO the road

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  15. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    That's fairly new isn't it? I don't think US schools have been without corporal punishment for long. And private schools may still use it.
     
  16. spaceChild Registered Member

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    I am hoping very much that you're not referring to New Zealand as South Australia??

    Many parents would smack a child about to do something bad such as stick a fork in a socket/electrical appliance. they learn that if they do it they'll get hurt in a less dangerous more controlled way.
     
  17. Asguard Kiss my dark side Valued Senior Member

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    i dont know (firstly it depends what you concider new), was it outlawed in the 60s? 70s? before that? i honestly have no idea.

    Scratch that aparently its not compleatly illegal in all schools in australia

    note: the refference 40 is to the page quoted below

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_corporal_punishment#cite_note-39

    now why doesnt it surprise me that a) SA hasnt gotten around to putting it into law and that it would be compleatly legal in queensland and the NT*shakes head*
     
  18. spaceChild Registered Member

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    FFS I wasn't talking about Australia or it's corpoal punishment laws, personally i don't give a shit about Australia or rugby or any other competitiveness my country feels the need to have with Australia.

    I was hoping to find some logical reply as to why the law (the anti-smacking law) is good or bad.
     
  19. Asguard Kiss my dark side Valued Senior Member

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    physical vilonce is never good (well unless its consentual like possably boxing or during sex

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    ). There for in order to prove its NESSARY you must eliminate all more favorable options leaving only the bad ones and then chose out of those the least bad.

    Hense the burden is on YOU to prove that smacking is a) nessary and b) the least bad of the remaining alternitives after assesment of all the good and bad alternitives
     
  20. madanthonywayne Morning in America Registered Senior Member

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    Never? What about self defense? What about the defense of an innocent from an aggressor? What about stopping the Nazis? Or, what if it is the most effective and time proven method of disciplining very young children?
     
  21. Asguard Kiss my dark side Valued Senior Member

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    no mad, its not GOOD in any of those cases. Its more RIGHT or less WORSE than the alternitives but its still not GOOD
     
  22. madanthonywayne Morning in America Registered Senior Member

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    I disagree. Why is violence always presumed to be bad, perhaps less bad, but always bad? Are any other human activities judged this way? No action is good or bad in and of itself, it is the context that makes it good or bad. Violence is no different.
     
  23. Asguard Kiss my dark side Valued Senior Member

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    because it hurts the victom.

    Lets say there is a person having a psycotic break running through a shopping center with a knife. The cops are left with no choice but to shoot them. Good act? HELL NO, best of the options left to them? yes (in this case because thats the senario, though normally it would be "it depends" because it depends on the situation and there might well be better ways to deal with it)

    Was it good that 60 million (acording to wikipedia) people died in WW2? was it good that so many young promising kids (basically they were kids, 16, 17, 18 year olds) lost there lives to stop what ammounts to a hand full of people (i dont belive that the whole of germany was evil, not even most of there soldiers, most of them were just like the allies, following orders)

    HELL NO. It was better than the alternitive but it was NOT good
     

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