By: Tycho

Tycho
Thu, 16 Oct 2025 10:35:46 +0000

When I was a clueless young mother nearly fifty years ago, with no family nearby and a husband in a demanding job, I was driven to distraction by a defiant toddler who was unmanageable despite smacks from me. In desperation, I spoke to my health visitor who arranged a meeting with a specialist in behaviour management. She was a lovely, unjudgmental woman, who gave me strategies I thought would never work; but they did – and within weeks, I had a changed child: sunny, co-operative and happy.

Would any desperate mother today admit to smacking their child to a health official?
There is a world of difference between brutal child abusers, who will ignore an anti- smacking law, and loving but frazzled parents at the end of their tether. Instead of threatening them with the law, why not encourage them to seek help – perhaps a poster in the child health clinic: ‘Do you love your child? Do you sometimes smack to no avail? We can help.’