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Leading children’s doctors are calling for a ban on smacking in England, arguing that the “Victorian-era” punishment puts children at risk of significant physical harm.
The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) is urging politicians to back an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which would remove the current “reasonable punishment” defence for smacking outlined in the Children Act 2004.
The Act currently permits hitting a child if deemed “reasonable punishment”, a clause judged on a case-by-case basis. The college says that removing this defence would offer greater protection to children.
Professor Andrew Rowland, a consultant paediatrician and RCPCH officer for child protection, said the defence had been in use in England since 1860.
“Now is the time for this Victorian-era punishment to go and the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill amendment will do that if passed.”
Some 67 countries around the world had already adopted smacking bans, with a further 20 committing to do so, Professor Rowland said.
“The best scientific evidence I’ve got is that physical punishment of children undoubtedly harms children’s health on a population basis,” he said.
“It harms their physical health, places them at increased risk of serious physical assault, it harms their mental health and it harms their emotional health and their wellbeing – all of that is shown in robust scientific evidence.
“There have been no robust scientific studies that have shown that physical punishment of children has any positive effect.
“So it’s not just that the use of it harms children, it also doesn’t benefit them in any way whatsoever.”
Removing the defence would make it easier for police officers, social workers, and paediatricians working in child protection services to “draw a line and say there are never any circumstances involved where physical punishment of children is ever legal”, Professor Rowland said.
“Let’s move forward from that and help families to find a way to modify their children’s behaviour, to help them grow up happily, healthily and safe from harm in a way that doesn’t involve violence.”
Calls to introduce a smacking ban in England intensified after the death of 10-year-old Sara Sharif in August 2023.
She suffered a two-year “campaign of torture” at the hands of her father and stepmother before her death.
Labour MP Jess Asato, who tabled the amendment, said other countries – including Scotland and Wales – had laws in place ensuring equal protection from assault and battery for children.
“Physical punishment is as outdated as it is harmful – and it’s been long since time to put an end to it,” she said.
A poll of 3,500 adults in England, carried out by YouGov on behalf of the children’s charity NSPCC in January 2024, found that 71 per cent thought that smacking, hitting, slapping, or shaking a child was not acceptable.
NSPCC associate head of policy Joanna Barrett said the charity supported children being given the same protection against physical punishment as adults.
“Physical punishment can have a detrimental impact on a child’s wellbeing. It has been associated with depression, anxiety, increased aggression and anti-social behaviour.
“Reviews highlight how the law, and the lack of clarity about what is reasonable and what is not, creates difficulties for professionals in assessing and responding to risk.
“Legal change must happen urgently, because right now we know physical punishment remains a part of childhood for too many young people in England.”
Source: independent.co.uk
