Smacking is never justified (From South Wales Argus)

Smacking is never justified

12:40pm Monday 31st December 2012 in Letters

RK ROGER should note the proposed anti-smacking legislation is not only supported by the Welsh Assembly Government but by the Sdim Curo Plant!/Children Are Unbeatable Alliance.

A group of 300 organisations, including Save The Children, Children In Wales, NSPCC and the Royal College of Paediatrics, all working to protect children. There is no fine line between brutality and smacking – hitting children for any reason is wrong. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child reminds us children are people too and have a right in law not to be hit. Messages to children about respecting others are lost when they experience being smacked by adults or when they see other children being treated in this way.

Children in Wales have produced a booklet Help at Hand-Taking a Positive Approach To Parenting (childreninwales.org.uk) which I urge people to read. Smacking children can also have a direct effect on children’s brain development, which can contribute to such conditions such as anorexia, addiction and anti-social behaviour. Does RK Rogers’ Christian values still cling to the rather punitive and outdated notion of Original Sin when it comes to bringing up children? I’m puzzled why he thinks hitting children is OK morally and ethically.

Terry Banfield Cardigan Crescent Cwmbran