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-654 |
CADRP-654 |
About you
Individual
— No
(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)
I do not support the principles of the Children (Abolition of Defence of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Bill for three main reasons.
I am thankful for the care and protection that our country provides to children in criminalising child abuse. However, reasonable chastisement by a child's parents should not be included in the legal category of child abuse. Smacking of a child is not done in anger by a parent but for the child's teaching and protection. The purpose of discipline by parents is to wisely and lovingly chastise their child to teach them to differentiate between what is wrong and right in a memorable but not harmful way. Without this discipline a child may grow up into an adult who has no regard for the laws of the land. My parents used smacking as one form of discipline when they were bringing me up. I understood that they did not want to punish me but that they would rather lovingly give me a transient smack now than that I be hurt later in life if I persisted in that which I had been doing which was wrong.
Secondly, the family unit is an essential part of society which will be harmed and undermined if this bill is passed. Parent's and children form families all across Wales. In a non- abusive family there is a special relationship between parents and children. In families parents are the adults have the responsibility of knowing, loving and caring for their children. Therefore it follows that if parents are seeking to fulfil this responsibility they will know what is best for their individual children at each different age, time and stage of their life to adulthood. It is accepted and not under question that part of a parent's role is to teach their children as they grow and to train them in good ways to live. Criminalising parents who smack their children would disrupt this. Suddenly the state would be claiming to know what is more appropriate for each child in each situation than that own child's parents. Parents who are loving, caring and providing for their children 24/7.
Lastly, criminalising smacking would jeopardise the well-being of children who are being abused at home by their parent's. Sadly, there are parents who do not love, care, provide for and know their children as they should. Thankfully it is already law that abuse of children, including hitting that causes a red mark that is not very transient, is already criminalised. If reasonable smacking was to be criminalised there would be a large number of cases that could fill the courts and be included and added to cases of domestic child abuse. This would take attention from those cases as there is limited court availability. Therefore, domestic child abuse may be missed increasingly by the police service and have a lower priority in court. A large percentage of the public were smacked by their parent's when they were younger and also think that it is essential to smack a naughty child for their loving discipline on occasion (Be Reasonable Campaign). Since this form of chastisement has wide ranging use amongst parents it seems fitting to deem that it is an appropriate form of loving discipline in the protecting, teaching and cherishing of children.
(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)
I do not as this bill seems to be encroaching on the rights and wise office that is given to a child's parents to bring up their children in a loving, caring and teaching environment in a family that is specific and tailored to each child. Every child is different and so there must be flexibility in the way in which parents are allowed to reasonably chastise their children to teach each child, in each family, born to each set of parents, in each town, village or city in Wales to grow up in the right way. Surely those who are closest to the children, who love and know them most, the children who will be the parents of tomorrow, should know best how to discipline their children.
(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)
Smacking as a form of reasonable discipline is common practice amongst families in Wales. 85% of the respondents to the campaign 'Be Reasonable' were smacked by parents or guardians as a child. I, myself, was. Although this figure may not be exact, this remains a high proportion of the population. if the bill was to be made law this suggests that >80% of the welsh population of parents would be criminalised. The police force would not be able to report and deal with all these parent. Even if they were too, the social services and law courts would not have sufficient capacity to follow through with the cases that would be necessary. Even if they were it would jeopardise the more important cases of child abuse and domestic violence that are sadly all too common in our courts.
Though an argument has been made that this bill would lesson abuse between children and in the home it can be exemplified that this would not be the case. As other countries that have criminalised smacking and have seen a rise abusive behaviour of children to one another. Therefore it is not logical to place smacking in the category of child abuse and criminalise parents.
(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)
I do not think that the barriers have been fully recognised and considered.
(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)
Yes.
I think that there is potential for loving parents to be criminalised for wisely and carefully bringing up their individual children. Children are different and it is widely recognised that they learn in different ways. Therefore, they must be taught in different ways. This is unquestionable and much of our state funding is spent to achieve this very aim in schools. Therefore it follows that in disciplining children different forms of discipline will be needed to teach different children what is right and wrong. Therefore, it is not reasonable for the state to dictate that one form of discipline is a criminal offense despite the loving manner and intention that it is practiced with. Good parents are the adults that best know their children, therefore they should remain with the responsibility of deciding whether they use smacking to discipline them to teach them what is right and wrong. Loving parents would be criminalised and social services may therefore take their children away. If this were to happen they would overflow the foster care system and could be made to suffer all the consequences of a foster care system which will not be able to give them the love and attention that their parent's previously devoted to the.
(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)
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