Make smacking children illegal, doctors urge
Smacking children is a 'Victorian' punishment that should be made illegal, doctors have urged.
The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) said smacking put children at risk of 'really significant physical harm' and should be consigned to the history books.
Medics urged those opposing a smacking ban to look at the scientific evidence which showed that smacking caused physical and emotional damage and 'doesn't benefit them in any way whatsoever'.
Under the Children Act 2004, it is unlawful to hit your child, except where it is 'reasonable punishment', and this is judged on a case-by-case basis.
Now the RCPCH is calling on parliamentarians to back an amendment to the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which would remove the 'reasonable punishment' defence from law in England.
Prof Andrew Rowland, a consultant paediatrician and RCPCH officer for child protection, said: '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 had already adopted smacking bans, with a further 20 committing to do so, he added.
Prof Rowland 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.'
He added: 'It's not a new law, it's just removal of a technical defence. First of all, prohibit a technical legal defence, remove that from legislation, and, secondly, engage with families in the lead-up to that becoming law.'
He was keen to stress that the time for change is 'right now' as 'there is a real risk that there won't be time throughout the remainder of this Parliament to bring in the legislation that children need'.
Call for immediate action
Calls to introduce a smacking ban intensified after the death of 10-year-old Sara Sharif, who was murdered in August 2023 after a two-year 'campaign of torture' at the hands of her father and stepmother.
Asked about the case, Prof Rowland said: 'What happened to Sara was absolutely horrendous, and I can say that as a paediatrician, but also as a member of the public, that no child should suffer as Sara suffered.'
He went on: 'So we know that physical punishment on a population basis does place children at risk of really significant physical harm. If we want to stop that, the first step has got to be to remove the defence of reasonable punishment.
'That will make it easier – easier for people like me as a paediatrician working in child protection services, for social workers, for police officers, to draw a line and say there are never any circumstances involved where physical punishment of children is ever legal.'
A poll of 3,500 adults in England carried out by YouGov on behalf of the NSPCC, a children's charity, found that 71 per cent think smacking, hitting, slapping, or shaking a child is not acceptable.
Jess Asato, Labour MP for Lowestoft, who tabled the amendment said: 'The health impact evidence of assault on children is clear, and that's why so many other countries, including Scotland and Wales, have now ensured that children have equal protection from assault and battery.
'Physical punishment is as outdated as it is harmful – and it's been long since time to put an end to it.'
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