Aussie Parents Slammed For Admitting They Use Smacking To Control Their Kids

Two Aussie parents have copped a severe backlash for admitting they use smacking to control their three children.

Andrew and Miriam appeared on Channel 9's Parental Guidance programme, which explores the parenting habits of 10 different mums and dads to see what techniques they use around the house.

All the parents get to decide whether they think one family's tactics are appropriate in 2021.

Self-described 'strict' parents, Andrew and Miriam revealed they smack their kids because it helps establish boundaries.

Miriam explained on the show: "We see a smack as one tool in a parenting toolbox and it's by no means the first tool that comes out of that toolbox.

"We make sure that we have gone through the other different tools and tried different ways, and if there is a situation that has that purpose or defiance and we feel that that particular situation that's the most effective tool, we ask the child to come to us.

"We don't chase them around the house, we don't try to pin them down or hold them, we ask them to come to us and the smack is delivered on the bottom."

Andrew added: "A smack quickly communicates [that] there are boundaries, there are consequences, [and] you can't just do whatever you want.

Alamy

"I was raised in a household where my parents smacked me and Miriam experienced the same.

"Now, I do not hold any resentment or bitterness to my parents for that.

"I've actually felt that that was a fine form of correction and as I've reflected upon that in my upbringing, I've thought, well that was a positive tool and so I've used that for our children."

Unsurprisingly, the other panel of mums and dads weren't happy with this admission and called on the couple to change their ways.

One mum told Andrew and Miriam: "[It's] corporal punishment. You're violating someone's body...It's a form of abuse."

Channel 9

She also called their justification and approach to smacking 'bulls**t'.

Another parent said: "We got disciplined as kids and we got smacked with wooden spoons and it certainly didn't feel like it achieved anything - anything positive anyway. So for me, absolute deal-breaker."

Parental Guidance got Andrew and Miriam's kids to pretend like they were the adults and confronted them with their own form of punishment.

Andrew admitted it was a pretty full-on experience and he and Miriam were worried that that was how his kids perceived their parenting methods.

He said about the challenge: "We all love our kids heaps and it just...you don't want to do anything as a parent that will give baggage to your kids...we're doing our best."

There have been loads of studies (here, here and here) that have illustrated how damaging smacking can be on a child's mental health and their mental development, so it's probably best to give up the habit.

Topics: Australia

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

@stewartperrie