Search results for: smacking

Welsh Committee Receives Over 600 Responses to its Consultation on Smacking

12 Wednesday Jun 2019

Posted by in Corporal Punishment, Researching Reform

≈ 6 Comments

Over 600 written responses were submitted to a consultation launched by the Welsh Assembly’s Children, Young People and Education Committee on the Children (Abolition of Defence of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Bill.

The Bill aims “to abolish the common law defence of reasonable punishment so it is no longer available in Wales to parents or those acting in loco parentis as a defence to assault or battery against a child.”

If enacted, the legislation would remove the right of parents in Wales in both criminal and civil law to claim that smacking a child is a reasonable form of punishment.

The Committee is holding its final session on the Bill today and is expected to publish its report by 2nd August.

The move represents a shift in thinking around the world on smacking, as a growing body of research emerges showing that hitting a child can be hugely detrimental to their development.

Currently 54 countries have banned corporal punishment in all settings, including the family home.

The bill if ratified into law is highly unlikely to see swathes of parents being sent to jail. To date we have not come across any cases of parents being sent to prison for smacking their children in jurisdictions where smacking in the home is banned.

Instead, these provisions send out a message that children deserve the same rights in law that adults – and animals – enjoy, and allow us to access and harness better alternatives for setting boundaries within parenting.

Within the UK, Ireland was the first state to implement legislation banning smacking (a term we dislike because it downplays child assault and battery), which it did in 2015.

Scotland has also promised to incorporate similar legislation. The session held by the Scottish Parliament Equalities and Human Rights Committee on 6th June offers some very useful information while looking at the possibility of repealing the criminal defence to ‘justifiable assault’ of a child.

The Lord Advocate The Rt Hon. James Wolffe, QC., and Anne Marie Hicks, the National Procurator Fiscal for Domestic Abuse took part in the session. Hicks’ department made the news last month after a man from Glasgow became the first person to be convicted under new Scottish domestic abuse legislation which came into force on 1st April.

On June 6, the Scottish Parliament Equalities and Human Rights Committee heard from the Lord Advocate and the  National Procurator Fiscal for Domestic Abuse. They addressed questions from the Committee regarding prosecutorial policies in light of the possible repeal of the criminal defence to ‘justifiable assault’ of a child.  Their answers are very informative and useful for any common law countries considering law reform.

England continues to ignore repeated calls for legislation banning the defence of reasonable chastisement of children in the home.

Very many thanks to Professor Joan Durrant and the Global Initiative for sharing the development with Researching Reform.

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Map source: Global Initiative To End All Corporate Punishment Of Children

Smacking is Lazy Parenting – And It Should Be Against The Law

06 Friday Mar 2015

Posted by in child welfare, Children

≈ 24 Comments

France’s recent run in with the Council of Europe, on their smacking policy has put corporal punishment back in the lime light, but a zero tolerance policy on hitting our children must be recognised not only as a natural evolution of our laws against assault, but as a much-needed gatekeeper to stem violent crimes against children world-wide.

The anti-smacking movement is an unpopular one. Governments around the world continue to shuffle their feet in fear of upsetting lazy parents who use language like ‘tap’ and ‘pat’ when they hit their children, and tell anyone who’ll listen that violence is a necessary part of everyday parenting. Previously, peers in the House of Lords debated this issue, framing it as a parental rights versus children’s rights dilemma. 

Both the French and the British government have a lot to answer for. In a TV debate this week, Thierry Vidor, of the family association Familles de France, told viewers that smacking was an “act of love”. Closer to home, Lord Lester suggested that parents should not be “criminalised for administering a light smack because it’s technically a battery.” That’s like saying a rapist should be let off because his victim was “a little precious” about her vagina.

Not everyone is making excuses for the smacking brigade. A study carried out by researchers from the University of Manitoba and McMaster University in Canada found that harsh physical punishment could lead to mental illness later on in life. Given that most children who are hit are unable to distinguish the many complex reasons why they’re being physically attacked,  and are, most of the time, unable to stop attacks against them, that some should suffer from such disorders is a logical deduction. And whilst some studies claim that smacking does not affect children if they feel loved, such findings tacitly ignore the reality that a relationship which involves violence is, regardless of affection shown after the attack, an unhealthy space for a child to grow up in.

Whilst France refuses to implement an outright ban on smacking, fearful of the statistical majority of parents in the country who oppose a ban outright,  our own laws are still too weak. Currently, the 2004 Children’s Act allows the physical punishment of children, as long as the act leaves no “bruising, swelling, cuts, grazes or scratches”. This, of course, does not address the deeper issue of emotional harm, which can lead to long term mental health problems. Nor does it take into account the example physical violence in the home sets.  And yet, all forms of physical punishment, including smacking, are prohibited in full-time independent schools, in children’s homes, in local authority foster homes and Early Years provision. So why are parents still allowed to physically punish their children?

We already know smacking is a gateway to further abuse. A light tap today, a rollicking thump tomorrow, once the tap no longer wields its intimidating sting. We know too, that it is an ineffective form of parenting, and says more about the parent’s presence of mind than it does the child’s. Despite all of the evidence showing us that smacking is a high-risk activity, parents still feel justified in using this form of corporal punishment. In a 2006 survey, 80% of the UK population said they believed in smacking and 73% said that they believed that any ban would cause a deterioration in children‟s
behaviour.  And they are not alone.

David Lammy MP, or as we like to call him, David Smack Me MP, was busy telling anyone who would listen that smacking children was “necessary and right”, and rather oddly, that the lack of corporal punishment amongst working class families led in part to the Summer Riots.  We expect that kind of stupidity from a politician, but when our justice minister Chris Grayling proudly tells the nation that he smacked his children growing up, and that it “sent out a message”, it’s no longer a laughing matter. It goes to the heart of our culture, and how we value children in society.

A ban on smacking does not have to lead to automatic prison time. As a society trying to make its way to civilisation, there should be a vast array of solutions at hand to deal with slap-happy parents, and prison should be a last resort. There is a distinction to be made between those parents who occasionally lose control and those who live to exert it. In most cases, the law would serve as a reminder that smacking is culturally unacceptable. For a small few, that prison is inevitable.

Making smacking illegal sends out a message. It ensures that children are accorded the same respect as adults in the eyes of the law. Crossbench peer Baroness Finlay of Llandaff points out that at least 50% of all children, those under 18, are hit once a week. When we have laws in place which make touching another adult in a way we’re not comfortable with a crime, how is it that our law still refuses to recognise that children are vulnerable members of our society, whose physical security we should be prioritising, not procrastinating over? Why should it be okay for a parent to a hit a child, when it is not okay for an adult to hit another adult? Does parental love really cover a multitude of sins, or is it just a convenient byline for our politicians too afraid to alienate its voters?

A ban on smacking is essential, not only for our children’s safe and healthy development, but for our development as a species. A ban on smacking would re-educate society. It is the right and necessary thing to do.

We’ve written about smacking before – check out our other posts and our petitions, here.

Channel 4 Holds Debate on Smacking

28 Saturday Dec 2013

Posted by in Children

≈ 39 Comments

Yesterday, Maggie Atkinson, the Children’s Commissioner, made a statement to the Independent that smacking should be illegal and today, Channel 4 has decided to host a debate on the moral, social and political issues surrounding the topic of smacking children. You can get involved right now on Twitter – just tweet @Channel4News and use the hash tag #C4News.

Our views on smacking are very clear. We don’t condone physical assault of any kind amongst adults and to do so where children are concerned is not only horribly confusing for children but is deeply contradictory. And as no situation actually demands physical punishment, we consider it totally unnecessary and as the scientific data shows clearly, hugely detrimental to some children’s development.

However, we are concerned with the possibility that a ban on smacking may lead to imprisonment. Quite how the currently hypothetical process of disciplining parents who smack their children might work is not yet clear, but given that this is a sensitive area with often little or no adequate support or examination of each individual case, it could open up a flood gate of unjustified forced adoptions.

Dr Atkinson is not going to be actively pursuing a ban on smacking for the time being, but the debate is sure to bring different perspectives to the table.

Previous articles on smacking from our blog can be found below:

November 2013

February 2013 :

January 2012

Big thank you to Rapella, polymath extraordinaire, for alerting us to this debate.

Twitter Responses from Children’s Charities on Chris Grayling MP’s Smacking Policy

04 Monday Feb 2013

Posted by in Children, Family Law

≈ 2 Comments

Here at Researching Reform we are anti smacking and in favour of removing the current double standard in law which makes it illegal for adults to hit one another, but not for an adult to hit a child, and our latest piece on Chris Grayling’s remarks about the benefits of smacking have left us, well, gob smacked.

You can see the article we wrote here and the many and varied responses we received from readers of the blog who took the time to comment. But we wanted to  hear from Children’s charities too, to find out what they thought about Chris Grayling’s remarks. To date, the responses have been diplomatic – no charity has yet mentioned Chris Grayling directly, but they are making a stand, slowly but surely against smacking.

Here are the replies we have received so far from Children’s charities and members of staff both past and present from some of these organisations, who very generously responded to our tweet “What do you guys think about Chris Grayling’s sentiments on smacking?”

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(There is a link on Fatima Ayad’s tweet, which you can access here. Fatima works at the press office for the NSPCC).

 

 

 

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(There is a link on The Children’s Society Tweet, which you can access here).

We will add more responses if and when we get them…..

Judge Who Called Barnsley Social Workers Nazis Praised By Locals.

29 Monday Oct 2018

Posted by in child welfare, Researching Reform, social work

≈ 12 Comments

The Crown Court judge who called Barnsley’s social workers Nazis after they subjected a six year old girl to inhumane treatment shortly after her mother died, was once tipped to be Mayor Of Grimsby because of his ‘no nonsense’ approach to cases.

Judge Robert Moore, who was set to retire this year, made a surprise comeback in June. Ongoing praise by locals in Grimsby led to residents nominating him for mayor, though he never ran for the position. According to Grimsby Live, a local paper in the area, Moore is now working as a deputy circuit judge, sitting regularly at Sheffield Crown Court, which is where he likened Barnsley’s social workers to members of Hitler’s SS party.

Judge Moore’s comments about Barnsley’s social workers received nationwide support from parents going through the family justice system, who called the judge a hero on social media. The comments also sparked a reaction from Barnsley Council, who vowed to make a formal complaint about Moore’s criticisms of its social workers.

This though, is not the first time Judge Moore’s direct approach has been noted. Having developed a fearsome reputation for handing down long sentences in the criminal cases he sits on, Moore also once dismissed an entire jury over concerns that some of the panel members were racially prejudiced. The case involved three black defendants who were on trial for alleged affray. Concerns over jurors using racist language prompted Moore to dismiss the panel.

Moore has also criticised social workers in the past. In a previous case he presided over, the judge slammed a council for removing children from their parents, who were placed in care over smacking allegations. The step father in the case had been accused of ongoing assaults, which included hitting one child on the hand with a wooden spoon, and making another child stand in the corner. Hitting a child at home is still legal in the UK, as long as the assault does not leave a mark. Judge Moore took the view that the trial itself, and placing the children in care away from their parents was crueller to the children than the assaults which took place.

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SS women camp guards Bergen-Belsen April 19 1945. Source: Wikimedia Commons

RR For HuffPost: Children Must Have The Right Not To Be Hit

11 Wednesday Oct 2017

Posted by in child welfare, Researching Reform

≈ 11 Comments

In honour of UNICEF’s Day Of The Girl, Researching Reform has written a piece for The Huffington Post inviting the government to ban all forms of corporal punishment.

Hitting, or smacking children as we call it, is still allowed in England and Wales, although it is fast being banned all over the world. A delicate issue, parents still feel that hitting their children is their prerogative, and an inalienable right that doesn’t cause long term damage, but weighty evidence is mounting up that contradicts these views.

Our aim with this article is not to threaten parents, or make them feel they are under attack. Researching Reform’s editor is a parent herself, and understands only too well how easy it is to lose control when tired and under pressure when it comes to parenting. This effort is about changing the law, to amplify a culture of respect for children and recognise them as equal in the eyes of the law.

Affecting girls as it does, corporal punishment is also a big issue for boys, and so we also ask that girls share this day with the boys, and that we join forces for a better, more egalitarian world, where children of both genders are protected and respected.

A very big thank you to Professor Joan Durrant, who is a pioneering child rights activist working on the effects of corporal punishment in the home, and without whose professional generosity and patient guidance, this article, with its host of renowned contributors would not have been possible.

You can catch our piece here.

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Question It!

27 Monday Jun 2016

Posted by in Question It

≈ 16 Comments

Welcome to another week.

A mother in Louisiana has had her three sons removed from her care after she was arrested on suspicion of whipping them with an electrical cord and belt, for burglarising a neighbour’s house. The mother’s assault left the boys, aged 13, 12 and 10, with cuts and bruises.

Following her arrest, the mother said, “”It’s been hell. I never could imagine that trying to be a good mother would end me up in jail with a criminal record like I’m a predator out to hurt my kids who I live for.”

East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore who is overseeing the case, has promised to review all the materials available before making a decision on whether to bring criminal charges against the mother. He is also noted to have said: “Surely you would expect a parent to discipline a child who is burglarising other people’s homes as this could be a deadly encounter for the child.”

Laws relating to corporal punishment in America vary from state to state, but are broadly similar to the UK’s own policy which allows for parents to hit their children, as long as the assault is considered to be ‘reasonable’ and does not leave a physical mark on, or break the skin.

A growing body of research is emerging which reinforces the view that children do not just suffer physically as a result of being hit by a parent, but emotionally too and that the damage can last well into adulthood.

However, parents in both the US and the UK continue to assault their children, with 6 out of 10 parents of children aged up to 4 in the UK saying they hit their children and 4 out of 5 Americans believing that hitting children is sometimes appropriate.

Adults hitting other adults in both America and the UK, however, is not tolerated. Even if an attack does not leave a mark, the perpetrator of that attack in the UK can still be charged with common assault, a crime which carries with it a maximum penalty of six months’ imprisonment and/ or a fine.

Our question then, is just this: what do you think justifies the distinction between the legalisation of assault on children, and the criminalisation of assault for adults?

Questions

More UN Member States Ban Corporal Punishment – But The UK Still Refuses To

11 Monday Jan 2016

Posted by in child abuse, child welfare, Researching Reform

≈ 18 Comments

Whilst our Prime Minister has been busy peddling the virtues of a big society, and the importance of children in it, his government still refuses to ban corporal punishment of children in the home.

It’s no secret that here at Researching Reform we are passionate advocates of banning assaults against children in all contexts, including their homes – after all, if it is illegal for a grown man or woman to hit another adult, even if the assault doesn’t leave a mark, why should the same not apply to children?

And now, a growing number of United Nations Member States are signing up to banning corporal punishment in all settings by making it a crime to do so.

Although we have banned smacking in schools, nurseries and other places outside of the home, we continue to allow ‘reasonable  chastisement’ in the home.  Much to our shame, this ‘defence’ was invented by the British, during the Colonial era, and persists in several countries that were dominated by the empire.

Isn’t it time we formally apologised for this element of our colonial past by making corporal punishment in the home illegal? As long as we continue to quietly condone this primitive form of parenting, how can we take any government’s proposals to protect our children seriously?

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