Consultation on the Children (Abolition of Defence of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Bill
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Tystiolaeth i’r Pwyllgor Plant, Pobl Ifanc ac Addysg ar gyfer craffu Cyfnod 1 Bil Plant (Diddymu Amddiffyniad Cosb Resymol) (Cymru) |
Evidence submitted to the Children, Young People and Education Committee for Stage 1 scrutiny of the Children (Abolition of Defence of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Bill |
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CADRP-237 |
CADRP-237 |
About you
Individual
— No
(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)
I strongly disagree with severe parental violence to children - however there has to be a scale and I think an occasional smack is now harmful to a child, and in fact it can be beneficial - it is a reasonable punishment
For example if a child is poking something into an electric socket it could get an electric shock - even a fatal shock. I think it would be better for the parent to smack a child in that circumstance - a physical short shock smack from a parent is better than a fatal shock from electricity. The effect of a smack will deter the child from dangerous exploration of sockets.
It is a Pavlovian view, but children need to be conditioned to avoid certain dangers to preserve their lives, and I think an immediate smack is a suitable way of warning children of danger to their lives. Such simple and rare punishment should not be a criminal offence.
Trying to save life (of the child) is better than neglect of the child by failing to give it warnings.
I feel it is wrong for the government to step into kind and caring parenting methods. "Nanny state" does not always know what is best, and it is very difficult to make legislation that fits every circumstance, especially in an area where there is a gradation from kindly care to dangerous violence.
(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)
No. I do not think legislation is appropriate in this area.
The danger is that caring loving parents will be criminalised for looking after their children. And the greater danger is that nanny state will remove the children from parental care, which actually causes FAR FAR for harm and damage to both children and parents.
So the state can cause far greater harm to the children than the parents ever would.
(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)
Yes - the diffculty in distinguishing between malicious repeated violence to children compaered with the caring occasional smakcs of loving parents to protect their children from harm.
(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)
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(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)
Yes. I think many more children will be taken from loving parents and put into a much more harmful social care environment with all the emotional side effects in both parents and children.
Children won't understand why they are being removed from their parents. And the state will have to pick up the long term fall out from children traumatised by being removed from their parents for no apparent reason.
(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)
If this legislation is passed there will be huge numbers of law-abiding loving people charged and or convicted. Children will be removed from homes at huge extra cost. Children will suffer trauma and psychological harm because of the disruption of their family lives. The police will be diverting resources from serious violence and major crime to interfering in families. There will be massive long term repercussions, in manpower to implement the law, additional social care costs, extra police costs, all of which will impact the national budget.
There HAS to be a balance between benefit and cost. The benefits will be minimal. The costs financially, emotionally (on children and parents - with concomitant medical and psychological ramifications) and actually budgetary costs will be huge and long term.
(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)
This bill is intended to protect children from extremely violent and malevolent parets. Unfortunately it will crimininalise many kind and loving parents who believe in occasional physical smacks. Children will be further traumatised.