Sir, – Might I suggest that in relation to corporal punishment, the polite euphemisms such as “slapping” and “smacking” are dispensed with? Perhaps it would be more appropriate to frame a debate along the lines of whether we are prepared to accept the purposeful “striking” of a child (or, indeed, an adult) in order to instil respect and discipline. Of course, I fully accept that there are those who would even see the use of the word “striking” as a polite euphemism. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Children as individuals have (or at least should have) the same rights as adults when it comes to the protection of their personal safety.
The use of force to instill discipline does not work in any other aspect of human nature – why should we expect it to work here? The rhetoric-based arguments of “it never did me any harm” frankly belong in the past. We no longer accept that teachers can use “the back of the hand” approach to discipline, that husbands can give their wives “the odd slap”, or even that dogs can be physically disciplined at will. Why then, do we continue to accept that parents and guardians can smack their children? – Yours, etc,