Getting the Wooden Spoon: Half of Parents Believe Slapping a Child is Okay

Disciplining children can be a tough job – how can you teach your child the difference between right and wrong without being an absolute tyrant?

So how do you dish out the punishment if your child is being particularly naughty? According to a new survey, nearly half of us are of the old-school mentality and believe that it is perfectly okay to slap a child.

The study, which was carried out by Newstalk also found that 70 per cent of respondents believe that they are good parents and they are generally happy with their parenting skills.

However, in the Attitudes to Children questionnaire, 49 per cent said they believe it is perfectly acceptable to hit a child and 46 per cent admitted that they had slapped a child at some point in time.

Many of the people who admitted to slapping a child said that they usually felt guilty about doing it and that they only lashed out at a child when they were frustrated or when they had lost their temper.

“A little tip on the hand or bum never done anyone any harm,” said an anonymous respondent.

Do you agree or disagree ladies?

The poll, which questioned 800 people, also found that 40 per cent of parents would allow a child under the age of 18 to drink alcohol and 20 per cent had bought alcohol for underage teenagers.

The majority of parents believe that a drink under parental supervision is the best way to introduce teens to sensible drinking and when asked what the most important lesson a parent should pass on to a child, the answers were love, respect, honesty and compassion.

So let’s talk disciplining children – have you ever hit a child or do you believe there is a far more constructive way of teaching children how to behave?