Pope Francis: parents can smack their children for bad behaviour

[Chef Ramsay]

Pope Francis believes it is fine for parents to smack their children as punishment for bad behaviour.
He made the remarks, which were condemned by campaigners for child protection, in front of thousands of people at his weekly general audience in St Peter’s Square during a homily about the responsibilities of fatherhood.

The Pope recalled a conversation he had had with a father, who told him that on occasion he hits his children if they have been naughty.

The Pope, smiling and miming the action of slapping a child on the bottom, said: “One time, I heard a father say, 'At times I have to hit my children a bit, but never in the face so as not to humiliate them.’

“That’s great. He had a sense of dignity. He should punish, do the right thing, and then move on,” he told around 7,000 people gathered in the Pope Paul VI Hall on Wednesday.

The endorsement of corporal punishment was condemned by campaign groups.
“It is disappointing that anyone with that sort of influence would make such a comment,” said Peter Newell, the coordinator of the Global Alliance to End Corporal Punishment of Children.

Peter Saunders, the founder of the National Association for People Abused in Childhood, told The Telegraph: “I think that is a very misguided thing to have said and I’m surprised he said it, although he does come up with some howlers sometimes.”

More...http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/the-pope/11392641/Pope-Francis-parents-can-smack-their-children-for-bad-behaviour.html

Are you Catholic and are you of the pro-Pope group (typically of liberal persuasion) or anti (conservative)? Or, name your religious and/or political persuasion as a fun exercise in this topic. Or, just state your opinion in any fashion. I'm just curious what people across the world think/feel about this topic in general and subsequently what they think about the Pope's comments. I'll chime in later on.

[Lethn]

Incredibly sad, he's clearly just another religious prick that uses an invisible god to justify violence against other people.

[pedrog]

Whoever spares the rod hates their children,
    but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them.

[grendel25]

I'll never hit my kid but I know it's a common thing in religion.  I think the term they use is something like don't "spare the rod".  I've just been through too many college classes where case study after case study shows all sorts of bad things for kids who are abused:  lower grades, jailed often later in life, higher murder rates... the list is endless.

[bitcoin_bagholder]

Scandalous! Next he'll say it's okay for the scout leader to pat boy scouts on the bum when they start a good fire.

[Lethn]

Scandalous! Next he'll say it's okay for the scout leader to pat boy scouts on the bum when they start a good fire.

As long as they start a fire under a pyre with some evil heathens attached to it it's all okay!

[sickhouse]

This is gonna sound bad but I thnk a loose slap is okay when the kid is yelling CANDY CANDY in a store for example. They get chocked, it doesn't hurt them but they learn not to do it. Telling them to stfu is never enough. :/

[Lethn]

Congratulations you just justified assault on a child.

[(oYo)]

The same way I have a problem with parents who don't even try to reason with their children, I also have a problem with those that don't discipline them when necessary.

Obviously reasoning with a child is always preferable and parents should never neglect to do so, but if your child is being unreasonable then what? Just let them continue to be assholes and eventually the state can deal with them? If my parents weren't as strict as they were and if they didn't discipline me when they did, I most certainly would have done some jail time or maybe even be dead.

[Lethn]

Ah the old "My parents did that to me and I didn't grow up badly" lololololol by the way, let's not call it 'discipline' please, it's assault, if it was done towards an adult it would be considered assault.

[(oYo)]

Ah the old "My parents did that to me and I didn't grow up badly" lololololol by the way, let's not call it 'discipline' please, it's assault, if it was done towards an adult it would be considered assault.

Lawful corporal punishment is not assault. An assault is an attack, not punishment.

While we argue semantics little assholes run amok and grow up to become big assholes, because of bleeding hearts that think you can always reason with children and make laws that prevent people from exercising control over their own kids. This isn't child abuse we're talking about, it's discipline. Time outs or lengthy discussions are not always effective or appropriate. Also, many kids just don't have the ability to understand reason, as well as there being adults who aren't as able to convey it, but they do know right from wrong. So to spare these kids a spanking you would rather the parents do nothing or just give them up to the state to deal with them? I think that would do the child far greater harm than good. While I admit that spanking also isn't always effective or appropriate, until we live in this perfect world you're dreaming of, where adults are always able to communicate intelligently with their always reasonable children, I believe spanking has its place as an acceptable disciplinary tool, provided it isn't used solely or abused.

[Lethn]

Gee that's an awful lot of rage and emotion in one paragraph, did your parents hit you when you were young?

[(oYo)]

Gee that's an awful lot of rage and emotion in one paragraph, did your parents hit you when you were young?

LOL! Really? Sorry 'bout that. 

I've already stated that they did and I'm fine with it. I think the "rage and emotion" you're sensing is from all the kids I see these days running their parents lives and the parents doing nothing about it.

[Lethn]

Gee that's an awful lot of rage and emotion in one paragraph, did your parents hit you when you were young?

LOL! Really? Sorry 'bout that.  

I've already stated that they did and I'm fine with it. I think the "rage and emotion" you're sensing is from all the kids I see these days running their parents lives and the parents doing nothing about it.

In all seriousness the funny thing is I see these parents who complain about their children all the time etc. and I'm afraid the majority of the problem really is that parents genuinely don't talk to their children but tell their children what they can and can't do. Parents who use spanking etc. are enforcing obedience, not discipline, the reason being is because that's the only way they can enforce their bullshit in the household only parents who don't have a leg to stand on use assault to get their point across.

I have a big family that of course also has lots of children and when they ever get together there's hardly any drama, children mimic their parents, so if they're acting like total assholes guess who's fault it is? My favourite and most personal ones are parents who blame Video Games etc. for the deaths or them committing murder when those stupid assholes are just sitting in a room watching television because they can't be bothered going to check on their own family.

[bitgeek]

Ah the old "My parents did that to me and I didn't grow up badly" lololololol by the way, let's not call it 'discipline' please, it's assault, if it was done towards an adult it would be considered assault.

My parents did that to me occasionally and I don't blame them. I don't think it happened more than once or twice a year and I know I deserved it. They were telling me to stop doing something and I ignored it just to see what will happen, or because I just didn't feel like listening to them.

You seem to be completely against using physical force towards children, so how would you persuade a kid to stop if talking didn't work?

[Lethn]

There's 'physical' force and then there's just blatantly hitting a child, if it was a serious situation I'd restrain them just like you would an adult if they were trying to pick a fight with another, but the amazing thing is, is when you hear about parents hitting a child over disobedience, so if it was over some stupid thing like not cleaning a room ( which some crazy lunatics genuinely think is okay ) then maybe it's better to explain why it's a good idea to clean it instead of just telling them to.

That said, we all have different standards, my room can end up a mess at times especially if I'm doing lots of work, I think the way people react as if it's going to be the end of the fucking world if it's not taken care of is ridiculous though. I can understand getting physical if it was a serious thing ( Hitting like I said is a no go just like with adults ) but I think some people just need to get their fucking priorities straight, as long as your child isn't trying to kill, hurt or steal then that's all you can ask for as far as I'm concerned.

Teaching them about fraud comes later when they're better at talking with you but basically I'm completely against this whole obey or die attitude that a lot of control freak parents seem to have and as usual it's something very consistently found in religion.

[bitgeek]

I didn't mean abuse and it seems we have a similar view. Physical force would be the last resort for me, but I laugh at people who try to condemn parents who hit their children from time to time. I've seen spoiled sadistical brats in my days who deserved a slap in the face, really. When you see a kid pulling your dogs tail you tell him to stop because it hurts and he just laughs at you and does it again you just feel this urge

[Lethn]

That'd be a serious case because he's trying to hurt an animal, I'd pull the twat away in that situation even if he decided to kick and scream lol but like I said, my point is you should only interfere when there's a genuine danger etc. or they're harming someone/something else, anything more is just people trying to enforce their own trivial bullshit. Point is though, you should also explain why that's a bad thing, because otherwise they won't realise, if an adult is just slap happy they won't ever realise what they're doing wrong and will just get utterly terrified and hate their own parents as they get older.

Don't go onto the internet? Stop using your phone so much? Classic complaints and I'm sitting there thinking "Well how the fuck do you know they're playing games all day? They could be researching cryptocurrencies!" my parents always think I'm just sitting at a computer doing fuck all then I start lecturing them about economics and they don't like that trolololool

[bitgeek]

Typical parents. When I started using the internet my father was constantly asking me if i'm watching porn because obviously the internet is nothing but porn. 

The strangest thing is that some people (usually from the left side of the scene) have been putting a child on a pedestal, like some untouchable exhibit. You can't bathe your children because, who knows, maybe you're a pedophile. If a child says he doesn't want to do something you can't force him and so on.

[ahmedjadoon]

I agree with Pope.