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-571 |
CADRP-571 |
About you
Individual
— No
(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)
Reasonable smacking is a tried and tested method of discipline which has worked well for most children for centuries. It is quickly administered, effective and soon forgotten.
There are many activities which have potential dangers but we do not ban them just because of that potential. Throwing out the baby with the bathwater is not the answer. Unreasonable smacking is already against the law. That is sufficient.
Government has repeatedly emphasised the crucial importance of the family, whilst at the same time continuing to make family breakup ever easier, e.g. the proposal for no-fault divorce. If a total smacking ban goes ahead there will be more ill-disciplined children and family turmoil. The Welsh Assembly will lay itself open to the charge that it is saying one thing and doing another.
Sweden banned all smacking in 1979. Since then, occurrences of child-on-child abuse increased from 116 in 1984 to 2,194 in 2010, an increase of 1,791% and a symptom of ill-disciplined children.
A study by Professor Joan Durrant on behalf of Save the Children which supported that organisation's support for no smacking has been, in effect, dismantled by Professor Robert Larzelere. His conclusion is “At every point the evidence contradicts Dr. Durrant's conclusions.” Dr Larzelere works in the USA (I have assumed he is not British) and therefore presumably has no axe to grind.
Psychiatrist David Eberhard published a critique of Sweden's ban in which he argued that their permissive approach, of which their smacking ban was the first step, has “left parents unable to correct their children in any way.” He flagged up several serious results for Swedish society, including breakdown of school discipline, plummeting grades, and a rise in anxiety disorders among teens including suicide attempts.
There are still 139 countries which permit reasonable smacking, including the USA, France, Canada, Italy and Australia. This is against 55 (56?) who have banned it. Wales would be very much in the minority. Claims that Wales is currently an “outlier” as far as smacking is concerned are therefore nonsense. Implementing the ban would place it in a distinct minority.
With very young children who do not yet understand verbal warnings, a sharp tap is usually a very effective deterrent. Inability to smack could therefore endanger the child, potentially leading to far more harm than the ban is proposed to prevent.
In 2017 a poll by ComRes found that 76% of Welsh adults opposed the criminalising of smacking and only 11% were in favour. That is a hefty majority.
Turning parents into criminals simply for wanting to correct their children is absurd. The impact on already overloaded police and social services also has to be considered, as does the removing of children from loving families, an action which I consider little short of criminal in itself on such a flimsy basis and which would result in misery and trauma for the children, not to mention the parents.
A ban on reasonable smacking probably won't make an iota of difference in preventing real child abuse. Banning those considered to be non-culpable at present is not going to catch those who are real abusers. The potentially hefty increase in police workload is going to make it harder, not easier, for them to identify and catch the real and dangerous culprits.
To say that children should have the same rights as adults is wrong. Children are not adults and parents need to do things for their children which are necessary to compensate for the child's lack of experience, lack of awareness of dangers, and the need for the child to learn correct behaviour. Other methods of discipline, such as confiscating something or sending them to their room are not treated as theft or false imprisonment. Nobody claims “inequality” on these issues and it is wrong to apply this argument to smacking. Criminalising smacking would undermine care and relationships within the family and fundamentally change the legal relationship between parents and children.
(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)
No.
(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)
As in the answer to 1.2, the effect on police and social services workload could be drastic and render the Bill very difficult to implement impartially and effectively. It could become a partial dead letter. There could even be a backlash from parents.
(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)
No. I think the impact would be greater than allowed for.
(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)
No, except that they are probably underestimated.
(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)
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