Smacking children to discipline and punish them

Smacking children to discipline and punish them

Media Release — 16 November 2018

Rearview shot of a young woman and her daughter having a conversation on the porch

For decades the American Academy of Pediatrics discouraged parents from spanking.

Now it says we should avoid it altogether because it's not effective, and can even be harmful in the longer term. On ABC’s ‘Life Matters’, Anne Hollonds, Director of the Australian Institute of Family Studies, discusses how smacking has become a dilemma for today’s parents.

Listen to Anne Hollonds' interview: Smacking children to punish them.

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