You see a mother in a supermarket slap her child...
Vous voyez une mère dans un supermarché donner une gifle à son enfant...
I don't like it, but it IS her business and perhaps the child deserved it.
I ignore it and then feel incredibly guilty.
I think about how I disagree with it but I don't feel it is my place to say anything to her
I would cringe and then proceed to think badly of that woman from then on. I don't believe in hitting.
I would feel extremely shocked, surprised, and disgusted but I wouldn't intervene.
I would gasp and wonder if I should do something. I would do nothing, hope someone else did something, and then feel guilty.
I wouldn't say anything verbally, but I would make it known through body language that I disagreed with her slapping her child. It is her child, and therefore her responsibility to discipline the child, but hitting is excessive.
it's not a big deal, so i don't do anything.
walk past and pretend like nothing happened
Ça ne me choque pas si l'enfant la mérite!
C'est tout a fait normal si l'enfant a fait quelque chose à ne pas faire.
Ce n'est pas mes affaires, de toute manière gifler un enfant peut dans certains cas être nécessaire.
il l'a surement cherché
Je compati
L'enfant l'a surement bien mérité.
la mère doit être dans un mauvais jour...
Pauvre poupon!
Si c'est justifié il n'y a pas à intervenir, si cela devient anormal je l'interpelle ou demande de l'aide.
Si il l'a mérité, pas choquant, si c'est pour rien il ne la mérite pas
Discussion
i didn't realize this was a big deal. i don't think getting hit is awful, it has happened to me pretty often.
yeah, it's not really that bad. I think the "should you spank your kids" argument will go on forever. The french people seem to agree with Cole.
I suppose part of the problem is the lack of description involving the hit. Was the woman yelling? Was she holding back at all? How old is the kid?
The arguments can change along with the situation.
Je crois que la plupart du temps les fessées sont justifiées. Je pense aussi que c'est "formateur", même si c'est une méthode un peu violente.
D'après les réponses, les américains semblent choqués par le fait de frapper un enfant, au contraire les français trouvent cela normal, courant.
Je me demande si les rapports entre les parents et les enfants ne sont pas différents aux USA et en france. Comment voyez vous le rôle des parents? Je pense que vous les considérez plus comme des "amis" (améliorés) alors que nous les voyons plus ou moins comme des "éducateurs". Qu'en pensez vous?
Hitting is not really shocking as much as people feel it isnt right. It is not done as much now as it was ten years ago and it also really depends on a person's upbringing.
As far as the role of parents, I think that they should act as a friend/family member as well as an "educator". They dont really have to be one or the other. As part of your family they are there to support you but also guide you.
yea i agree with lauren. i think that it is less that we are shocked and more that we disagree with it in general.
in my opinion, there are far better ways to educate and discipline younger children on how to behave in an acceptable manner. Hitting as a way of discipline does not set a good example and would counteract what you are trying to teach them in the first place.
I agree with Lauren and Abby. I said that I would not do anything because many people still see it as a valid parenting technique, but I would feel terrible afterwards because as a child I know I would have found that very distressing.
I would say that hitting is somewhat taboo in mainstream society, but not to as many people as I had thought until I heard a call-in radio show about it. A lot more people were in support of it than I thought.
I would also say that, as an only child, my parents are indeed my friends, but not to the point where I do not respect them or feel like they are trying to get me to like them. I don't know if this is true of everyone.