Parents favour 'odd smack' for child

Two thirds of Irish parents believe giving their child an occasional smack is allowable, the first comprehensive survey of parental discipline in Ireland has found.

A quarter of Irish parents surveyed have smacked their children in the last year, with a smack on the bottom being the most common form of punishment.

The research findings, published today by the Department of Health and Children, found parents had an ambivalent attitude to smacking.

While 67 per cent believed that an odd smack will not harm a child, a similar number (64.7 per cent) say it is not necessary to bring up a well-behaved child.

A majority of parents (58 per cent) believe that smacking should remain legal, but only a third believe it should be legal in all circumstances.

The survey involved 1,353 parents nationwide and was carried out over the phone.

Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs principal officer Elizabeth Canavan said the message from the survey showed parents generally believed that physical punishment was wrong but did not want the State to tell them how to chastise their children.

She said there had been a “huge shift” in the perception of physical punishment since most Irish parents were children themselves, with this shift borne out in the research.

Although 81.2 per cent of Irish parents remember getting a smack to the bottom, hands or legs, only 16 per cent of them used the same disciplinary strategy.

Only a tiny percentage of parents used more severe forms of physical punishment such as a smack across the face or hit or with a slipper or belt.

Ms Canavan said it was better to encourage parents to go for non-violent means than to be looking for an outright ban, and to continue making physical punishment morally unacceptable.

“Our concern is to make sure that parents understand the best strategies. If they need support and understand that we can provide that,” she said.

“Really, the parents and society set their own standards, and this [smacking] is not acceptable anymore. That seems to be the direction of travel.”