ipl-logo

Analysis Of The Article 'Smacking Is Distinct From Child Abuse'

559 Words3 Pages

Smacking is Distinct from Child Abuse
(Personal Response)
The article ‘Smacking is Distinct from Child Abuse’ published in the Herald Sun on October 16th 2009, written by Cheryl Critchley discusses Critchley views and opinions on whether or not smacking is child abuse.
A claim made by Critchley in her first two sentences is that if parents do smack their children they are accused of child abuse and not being able to control their kids. If parents don’t smack their kids then it’s the opposite, they are thought to be ‘soft touches’ who let their kids run wild. I feel that what Critchley has claimed is true but a swift tap on the bum or smack (within reason) shouldn’t be considered child abuse because child abuse and discipline are two different things. Discipline is training a person to obey rules and have the correct behaviour by using punishment to correct their misconduct, light physical punishment is considered as …show more content…

Critchley believes that smacking a child is counterproductive to their development and it teaches the child that violence is the solution to any problem. Whilst Critchley believes this she still vouches that not all parents who use smacking as a form of discipline are child abusers. I agree with Critchley’s views on smacking children and will strive to keep them my whole life. But what’s more is that I believe the majority of people who smack their kids are not child abusers they just want to teach their child that it is seriously not ok to do what they were doing to provoke the parent to smack them. On the other hand though, there are the minority of parents that just use smacking to abuse their children so there is a time where we have to draw the line as to whether smacking is being used to abuse the child or if it’s being used to enforce good

Open Document