A letter appearing in the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health has called for a ban on smacking habit. Dr. Gervase Chaney, who is the President of Paediatric and Child Health at the Royal Australian College of Physicians and writer of the letter told that smacking is no less than child abuse.

In the letter, he told that smacking has quite a negative effect on children, which could even put them in depression and can even make them lose their confidence. He said that time has come when they need to fold up their sleeves and take action against smacking.

Through his letter, he has asked the support of all the pediatricians across Australia that they should support him to make smacking act as a legal crime. For a long time, debate is going on that people should abandon smacking activities. But then parents used to argue that it is not a crime and is a necessity to introduce discipline in their children.

Professor Oberklaid, who is the Director of the Hospital's Centre of Community Child Health, said that hitting a child in any circumstances is wrong. If a child is made to suffer it for a long term then it could have harmful effects on the growth of a child.

This is the reason that they have taken out a method, which would help people to know more about smacking. They have suggested that a course should be introduced in all Australian colleges, which should educate youngsters about the ill effects of smacking. So they do not commit the same mistake when they become parents.

"If children grow up in an environment where they're witness to violence or they're hit themselves, then they learn pretty quickly that the way to resolve disputes is to hit", said Oberklaid.