I WAS astonished at Kevin McKenna’s article (“This ban smacks of pandering to middle-class dilettantes”, The Herald, October 21)). I would suggest that class has no part in the equation that leads adults to hit children.
Adults have fully developed brains and are in better control of their collective emotions. Kevin McKenna’s reference to parents “gently chastising their children” is misguided at best and naive at worst, since it is my experience that, when an adult resorts to violence, it is usually after their temper has been broken and they have therefore lost control (why else would you strike a child?), at which point “gentle” is a word that no longer exists in the brain’s lexicon.
Violence begets violence and children should not be taught by adults to think that it is okay to hit anyone simply because things didn’t go their way. Children can be little monsters, and irritate the hell out of us adults but there are other ways, these days, to deal with unruliness; removing certain electronic items is always a good start.
I wonder if it is alright to smack the yob in the pub, who has ignored the warnings after having been told five times to tone it down; probably not, because the yob might hit back.
Kevin McKenna’s comment about applying the law is perfectly valid but, if we use that argument as a yardstick, there are many laws that are difficult to enforce, though that does not mean that they shouldn’t be on the statute book.
I imagine Kevin McKenna is merely trying to invoke debate; at least I hope that was his aim with this article. Otherwise, it is a very sad comment indeed.
Francis Deigman,
12, Broomlands Way,
Erskine.
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