Personally, I’m really against hitting. I’m thinking some readers might think “yeah, well, your kid is only 2”, but I really hope I have the courage of my convictions and never hit my daughter.

Secure attachment is really important to me, and hitting damages that. Studies also show that hitting doesn’t lead to better behavioural outcomes. We teach our kids that violence is wrong, and we’re not allowed to hit adults, so I really feel like it shouldn’t be okay to hit kids either.

Also, I feel like if I hit my daughter, I’m telling her that it’s okay for someone to hit her. Not something I want her to internalize for when she’s an adult.

It’s still unfortunately very much normalized in our society though.

Another trend imho is figuratively wrapping one’s kid up in bubble wrap: if they’re only starting to make decisions when they’re adults and don’t have you there to fall back on in the same way, they might make terrible decisions. Overprotection can really backfire.

Of course, there’s the other side of the spectrum where people don’t even know where their kids are half the time, so a little balance is needed!

I’d recommend a book like Raising Children Who Soar: A Guide to Healthy Risk-Taking in an Uncertain World that addresses how you can help your kids learn to make good decisions.