Raffles Institution
English Department 2009 Deadline: Term 3 Week 9
Secondary 3
Name: Mohamed Danish Fawaz Bin Rahmat (14) Class: 3L Date: 23 August 2009
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article644804.ece
Often when a child does a rather unacceptable deed, you would hear, “Go to your room now! You’re grounded for a week! No TV, no PSP! You hear that?” Or perhaps, “I’m cutting half of your monthly allowance young lady!” These are common methods of to instil that expected amount of discipline in a child. But when all these disciplinary actions and strategies have failed, there is one method that, according to Times Online, eighty percent of parents surveyed, believes in, a method that never fails to succeed. Surveys have showed that eighty percent of parents believe in smacking their children. Despite the government’s effort in UK to ban smacking, most parents still believe smacking is the last resort that would not fail in educating their children. I believe smacking can be deemed as an effective method in disciplining a child. When all other methods fall short, smacking seems to be of the last resort.
Other alternatives to smacking recommended by experts from websites like kidshealth.org include taking away privileges from the children. When a child breaks a rule, experts recommend for parents to take away some of his privileges as to warn a child that there are boundaries that shouldn’t be crossed. However, in certain cases, these methods do not work on certain children. Smacking is still the last resort in disciplining their children. Smacking proves to be more effective than methods recommended by experts. In the article, a 36 year-old mother of three, Ara Macmillan, claims that she has tried all other methods including warnings, withdrawing of toys and treats but it did not bring upon any positive changes to her children, in other words, it did not work on them. Only when she resorted to smacking them, they repented and listen to instructions. Smacking proves to be of success in dealing with such children. This shows that smacking proves to be the dominant method over other methods such as taking away privileges.
It has been a controversial issue on whether smacking should be illegalised by the government over the period of past few years. According to Cambridge dictionary online, smacking or smack in definition means a hit from someone’s flat hand as punishment & to hit someone or something forcefully with the flat inside part of your hand, producing a brief loud noise, especially as a way of punishing a child. Smacking simply means causing physical harm to someone especially a child as a form of punishment. Parents argue that smacking should not be ban because it is an effective method in a child disciplinary. And when compared to other methods or ways, it emerges as the most effective method to most parents. A former police special constable who is a mother of three, smacked her dear eight year-old boy when he refused to get ready for school. After one smack, her son, Ross, got up and got ready for school. Mrs Macmilan states that smacking leaves a lot more impact than a naughty step of taking his privileges away such as his Gameboy for an evening or turning off the TV. While other children may feel mortified or upset when not able to watch TV, Mrs Macmilan’s son, Ross would divert his attention to a new activity. But smacking sent the message across in an instant. This proves smacking to be of utmost effectiveness. It should not be banned. It acts as a form of effective punishment on children.
However, as Mrs Macmilan has said too, different children confer different reactions to different methods. In example, her son is immune to the depletion in privileges and smacking works on him. However, for her daughter, the deprivation of privileges works on her and smacking was never needed for the 14 years of the young girl’s life. You have to find the method of discipline that works for your child. Every child differs thus the way of handling them would differ too.
