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Australians Are Divided On Whether Smacking Your Kids Is Okay

Australians Are Divided On Whether Smacking Your Kids Is Okay

New data shows older people are much more in favour of a casual smack than younger people.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

It's an age old method to keep your kids under control, but is public opinion on smacking changing in Australia?

Most kids will have been smacked once or twice or at the very least been threatened by one of their parents.

But figures from the ABC show that Aussies are pretty divided on the issue.

The national broadcaster's Australia Talks National Survey has revealed that 47 per cent of respondents reckon the behaviour control practice is acceptable. Thirty-eight per cent felt the opposite and the remainder were split between being neutral or strongly acceptable.

Unsurprisingly, the data shows that older people were in the 'acceptable' category - likely because they themselves grew up with similar behaviour.

Wikicommons

Smacking, or physical punishment in the home, is still legal in Australia.

University of Technology Sydney Law Faculty associate Professor Patrick Lenta told the ABC: "In some states there is a common law defence permitting parents [and sometimes teachers] lawfully to administer 'reasonable' corporal punishment, while in other states the defence is contained in legislation."

But that doesn't mean you can't just smack your kids any way you want - one mum found that out the hard way. The Perth mum found out you can't exactly hit your kids with an instrument after she was smacked with a $750 fine.

The woman, who can't be named for legal reasons, was accused of hitting her nine-year-old daughter with a wooden spoon on her bum for eating old meat that was supposed to be for the dog.

The daughter was bruised from the incident and when someone noticed it, the mum was charged with common assault and plead guilty.

9 News

Interestingly, a massive meta-analysis of studies around smacking found that it doesn't really help in the long run to control your kids.

Published three years ago in the Journal of Family Psychology, the massive study revealed that this sort of behaviour should have been done away with.

The authors wrote: "Among the outcomes in childhood, spanking was associated with more aggression, more antisocial behaviour, more externalising problems, more internalising problems, more mental health problems, and more negative relationships with parents.

"Spanking was also significantly associated with lower moral internalisation, lower cognitive ability, and lower self-esteem. The largest effect size was for physical abuse; the more children are spanked, the greater the risk that they will be physically abused by their parents."

So next time you feel like hitting your kid to get them under control, you might want to think twice.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: News, Australia