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  • Q&A with Australian Health Practitioners

    Should you hit or smack your child?

    Related Topics
    Parenting Parenting Big Kids (5-8) Parenting Infants (0-1)
    There has been a lot of publicity recently about hitting or smacking your child. I am a new mum and want to know what the arguments for and against are?
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    Anonymous

    Thank you so much for this fantastic response. It all makes a lot of sense, especially the part about rewarding good behaviour. So if a child does something wrong like hits another child or kicks you (his parent) in a bad moment, could you put them in a naught corner or do some other action which makes them realise they have done something wrong? My child usually doesnt take me seriously enough when i say ‘no’ or ‘naughty’….?

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  • Dr Natalie Parletta

    Dietitian

    I am a dietitian/nutritionist with extensive research experience into diet/nutrition and children’s behaviour; Mediterranean-style whole food diet; and parental influences on young children’s diets. In … View Profile

    This has been covered beautifully by Grant! Fantastic response, well covered. As he has said, punishment is not an effective means of encouraging good behaviour and teaching children inappropriate behaviour. It is important to address the behaviour, not the child her/himself, by helping them learn consequences and conveying that they are okay, the behaviour is not. Hitting personalises it. Hitting is also a violation of their personal space and therefore does not teach children healthy boundaries nor does it help them learn effective conflict resolution, i.e. resolving conflicts without using physical violence.

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  • Dr Natalie Parletta

    Dietitian

    I am a dietitian/nutritionist with extensive research experience into diet/nutrition and children’s behaviour; Mediterranean-style whole food diet; and parental influences on young children’s diets. In … View Profile

    Here is some interesting new research linking smacking with greater likelihood of mental health problems: http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/lifestyle/a/-/health/14107510/spanking-boosts-mental-illness-odds-study/?zbrandid=2039&zidType=CH&zid=3061920&zsubscriberId=501562563&zbdom=http://aracy.informz.net

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  • Maria Nguyen

    HealthShare Member

    I agree with responses above. I am guilty of spanking my 2 year old sometimes. I was on a family trip last week and my little one was just misbehaving hard and refused to listen to me. I spanked few times to prevent hurting himself. But usually I just put my son for timeout in his crib. He surely hates it and stop acting up. 

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