Children want a smacking ban, says Government consultation
The Government has published the results of its consultation on section 58 of the Children Act 2004, which lets parents smack their children as long as it is a ‘reasonable punishment’.
Carolyne Willow, national co-ordinator of the Children’s Rights Alliance for England, said:
“This consultation shows overwhelming support among children and professionals for a smacking ban. Individual parents should be no longer left to decide whether or not to hit. The law should be crystal clear – violence is not acceptable in any relationship, and children should feel safe in their own homes.”
The Department for Children, Schools and Families reports that:
- Around two-thirds of children have been smacked at some point and most felt that smacking was out of place in modern childhood
- Many people don’t understand the law about smacking
- Some local councils, Local Safeguarding Children Boards (responsible for making sure children are kept safe), and paediatricians (doctors for children) said smacking should be banned, and that it was often hard to give good advice to parents about violence against children because the law says they can be smacked.
19 countries have already changed the law so that parents can no longer smack their children.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has criticised the Government for its failure to ban smacking. Carolyne Willow adds:
“Ed Balls has the chance to make a single decision that will improve millions of children’s lives and transform the position of children in society. The UN is due to examine the UK’s children’s rights record next year, so law reform and a public education campaign must happen sooner rather than later.”
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Download the results of the Government consultation
Posted on Thursday, October 25, 2007
