United Future
Murray Smith

Speech on Smacking Children - General Debate in Parliament

Violence is described in the Oxford Dictionary  as: “The exercise or an instance of physical force, usually effecting or intended to effect, injuries, destruction, etc.; powerful, untamed, or devastating force; an unjust, unwarranted, or unlawful display of force.”

It is something that brings about injury, but not in a significant way. Clearly the definition, in that context, is talking about substantial injury. It is certainly not abuse.

There is no connection whatsoever between Coral Burrows’ death and section 59 of the Crimes Act. In fact, the mother of Coral Burrows said that Steve Williams, the accused, was a good father figure, from which we take the fact that there was not abuse.

We do not yet know the facts that will come out in that case, but there is not always a connection between the way a person responds to a child and what happens later on.

Physical, violent injury is abuse. A negative intention is quite clearly implied. Child discipline requires a loving attitude. Spanking is not just a right parents have when dealing with their children; nor is it just a necessary tool for training and disciplining children.

From my experience as a father of five very-well-adjusted children, currently aged 23 years to 11 years, who as best as I can recall all received smacking at some stage in their younger years, I say that smacking is an important part of a child’s early development as an individual and as a potential valued and contributing member of society.

The latest Australian statistics show that step-parents and de facto partners, particularly a mother’s male de facto partner, are the most likely to abuse a child; not natural parents.

In my view, adults with convictions for violence are far more likely to come from families where no physical discipline took place, than from families where there was appropriate physical discipline provided by loving parents.

Child abuse is based on a hatred, a disregard, of children’s needs. Child discipline is based on love and a genuine concern for the welfare of the child. Firstly, children need physical discipline. It is how they learn.

If a child reaches out to touch a hot stove, sure we can shout in a loud voice “no”, and maybe that will scare the child, and frighten him or her from touching the stove. But, ultimately, giving a child a small spank teaches the child that it is far better not to touch something, because the consequences will be far more severe.

If a child is going to cross the road, restraining the child by grabbing it is an acceptable way of stopping the child. Shouting at the child may simply be far too late.

Secondly, physical discipline provides a sense of security for children. It provides them with safe boundaries and convinces them that boundaries will be provided in their lives that will be enforced, no matter what they do.

All parents who have had young children have gone through what is euphemistically known as the “terrible twos”. Usually, in my experience, it starts at about 18 months of age.

This is a period of time when young children tend to be defiant, to decide to put their parents to the test as to who is in charge. Will my parents protect me from hurting myself, no matter how determined I am to do it?

Any parent of a 2-year-old will know that experience. In my experience, once a parent has conquered that test children are very affectionate. They recognise that they have safe, secure boundaries within which to operate and that they can trust their parents to enforce those boundaries.

I recognise that, to outsiders, children being smacked is uncomfortable to see. Hitting other people does not come naturally. A crying child naturally engenders sympathy. But wilful, petulant children, who are determined to win against their parents’ wishes, and who are allowed simply to do that, suffer more harm than if they are given the boundaries they need to survive.

It is in both their own interests and society’s long-term interests that that restraint be provided, and the vast majority of parents realise this. In a snapshot poll on Radio Pacific last week, 96 percent of the children polled answered “yes” to the question of whether smacking should be allowed.