ember 1.

However, on this subject a great deal rests on the definition of smacking, and the age, and sex, of the child involved.

A slap (always across a leg only) to emphasise the danger of certain behaviour, i.e. playing with an electric plug, is quite acceptable as long as the child is of an age to understand why he/she is being smacked.

However, the situation changes if smacking becomes hitting, which can lead, in only a small minority of cases it is hoped, to abuse.

Violence will always breed violence, and the day will come when an older child who has been regularly hit, will hit back – if not to the parent, step-parent or de facto who has administered the punishment, then within society as a whole – hence violence on our streets and out of control teenagers.

In the case of girls who have been hit, this merely imprints on their minds that hitting is normal, and may well lead to them accepting abusive behaviour from a future boyfriend or husband.

JOYCE ACKERMAN,

Strathdale