Mum claims 'every loving parent' should spank their children

A mum has claimed that 'every loving parent' should use physical discipline, including spanking, against their children in the wake of Scotland's new spanking ban.

Claire Muldoon, a mum and journalist from Scotland, has insisted that parents should be able to use physical force to discipline or chastise their children during an appearance on This Morning.

The segment saw Muldoon and fellow journalist and mum Rebecca Wilcox debate the new ban on smacking children that has just been implemented in Scotland, Muldoon claiming that the new law was "big brother" intervening in parental responsibility.

"Every loving parent would use some form of physical chastisement – not always, but if it's suitable – to chastise their child," she said.

Wilcox was horrified by the statement, responding that the one time she smacked her four-year-old son was her "biggest guilt as a mum."

Describing the moment as a loss of control on her part, Wilcox reminded viewers that parents, as adults, should know better than to use physical force to discipline their children.

"I'm constantly saying [to my son] don't hit your brother, don't hit your friends, don't hit me," she said.

"What am I doing? I'm the biggest hypocrite in the world [when] I smacked him."

She added that the incident changed their relationship and actually lead to her son hitting other more rather than less.

The segment reignited the debate online as well, where fans flocked to share their own thoughts on whether hitting a child is ever okay.

"The only reason parents smack is to take their own frustrations out on their children," one Tweeted in reply to the show.

"I frustrate my husband on a daily basis but if he was to smack me it's called domestic abuse!"

Another responded: "Parents are supposed to be role models to their children. By smacking your child you are telling them it's OK to hit people to get your point across. How do people not see this?"

Others added that there are far more effective ways to discipline children without using physical punishments.

Though some people claimed that they'd been smacked as children and had "turned out fine," research is increasingly showing that hitting children can have severe long-term consequences.

Multiple studies have proven that smacking can have negative long-term effects on children, typically resulting in greater aggression, and potentially contributing to psychological and mental health problems.

According to a 2017 statement from Elizabeth Gershoff, co-author of one of these studies, smacking children "was not associated with more immediate or long-term compliance."

So not only does smacking children have a negative impact on them, it doesn't even achieve the outcome parents are aiming for – compliance.

It seems that parents will continue to debate the topic for some time to come, but the science is clear that we really shouldn't be hitting our kids.