Legislation surrounding the smacking of children needs to be relaxed so working-class parents can instil discipline in their homes without fearing prosecution, according to a senior Labour politician. MP for Tottenham David Lammy claimed Labour’s 2004 decision to tighten up the smacking law was partly to blame for last summer’s riots, which erupted in his […]
CHILDREN who are smacked by their parents may grow up to be happier and more successful than those spared physical discipline, research suggests. A study found that children smacked until the age of six did better at school and were more optimistic than those never hit by their parents. They were also more likely to […]
The government is planning to close a legal loophole which allows staff at a private Christian academy to smack their pupils. The Tyndale Academy in east London avoids the ban on corporal punishment in schools by falling outside the legal definition of a private school. Ministers want to change the law to bring this academy into line. […]
Children turn to crime because their parents are too scared to smack them, so they lack discipline, according to a police chief. Superintendent Leroy Logan says many parents no longer use physical punishment because they fear an assault charge. The East London officer made his comment at a meeting of a Commons committee investigating crime […]
By Rosemary Bennett Social Affairs Correspondent SEVEN out of ten parents smack their children and would strongly resist any move to ban corporal punishment in the home, according to a poll. And in the population at large, the survey uncovered even greater support for parents’ right to smack. Eighty per cent said that they believed […]
THE idea of smacking your own children has been well-argued across Britain, with some people quick to pounce on those who choose to punish in this way. But what about smacking other parents’ children if they’ve been misbehaving? Well that’s an option one Worcester school hopes to be able to exercise if a landmark court […]
By Jill Lawless Associated Press LONDON — Asked to decide whether spanking a child constitutes punishment or abuse, the British government yesterday came up with a compromise – violence against children is unacceptable, but a healthy smack can be fine. Health Minister Jacqui Smith said the government would not introduce new laws, long advocated by […]
WE have no greater enthusiasm than Jim Wallace, Deputy First Minister of the Scottish Executive, for inflicting corporal punishment on children. On the whole, we think it a happy development that, over the past 50 years, fashion has turned against smacking and parents no longer feel a responsibility to chastise their young physically. But many […]
A new attempt is being made to clarify and improve the law on the punishment of children in Scotland. A consultation paper has been published which says the Scottish Executive believes parents should have the right to discipline their children. But it also seeks views on how grey areas of the law can be cleared […]
By Sarah Hall and Lucy Ward The government will today publish proposals to ban parents from smacking their children on the head or face, or from using belts or other implements to inflict physical punishment. A consultation document, Protecting Children; Supporting Parents, will stop short of proposing a ban on smacking, but will recommend handing […]
By Richard Savill A TEACHER convicted of assaulting his eight-year-old daughter by smacking her bottom in a dentist’s waiting room yesterday lost his appeal against a supervision order enabling social workers to monitor the welfare of the girl and her two younger brothers. The father, aged 48, is the first parent in Britain to be […]
By Austin Cramb, Scotland Correspondent A FATHER who hit his 11-year-old daughter on her legs and bottom with a belt to stop her sniffing solvents was shown leniency by a court yesterday. The man, 31, claimed that it was a reasonable form of chastisement, although the beatings left “tram line” marks on the girl’s thighs. […]
By Linda Jackson AN American couple who believe in beating children rather than cuddling them have been invited to speak in Britain by a Christian education group. Gary and Anne Marie Ezzo, self-styled childcare experts and committed Christians, recommend that parents spank children from the age of 18 months up to five times a day, […]
By Victoria Combe A GROUP of independent Christian schools is challenging the Government’s ban on corporal punishment, which comes into force this week, claiming that smacking is “moderate and loving discipline.” Forty members of the Christian Schools’ Trust are contesting the ban through the European Court of Human Rights, claiming that the legislation is an […]
By Peter Foster SEVEN out of 10 parents believe that it is acceptable to smack their children if they misbehave, according to a survey published today. The findings of the ICM poll, conducted for BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, give widespread support to the Government’s decision to continue to allow parents to smack their children, […]
Children’s charities have called for clarification of the law after a father was convicted of assault for smacking his daughter. The 48-year-old Scottish teacher was found to have gone beyond the bounds of “reasonable chastisement” when he smacked her on the buttocks in a health centre because she refused to have her tooth extracted. But […]
A boy has been awarded £10,000 compensation after a court ruled that a caning from his stepfather broke the law. The case is likely to lead to a ban on parents severely beating their children, although the UK Government says smacking is a separate issue. The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg said the […]
By Philip Johnston Home Affairs Editor A NATIONAL debate to establish limits on the parental discipline of children was launched by the Government last night after a boy caned by his stepfather won support for a human rights action in Europe. The ruling means British laws may be changed to give children greater protection from […]
Plans to sell a video showing parents how to smack their children using a nine-inch red strap have created a furore in Britain. The video is the brainchild of New Zealand businessman Philip Holdway-Davis, 37, who has invested £12,000 of his own money in the product. He planned to sell it to the UK by […]
By Hugh Muir, Terence Shaw and Rachel Sylvester THE Government promised yesterday to defend parents’ right to smack their children after the European Commission of Human Rights allowed a boy of 12 who was beaten with a garden cane to challenge domestic law. John Major said he had no plans to change the law. Stephen […]
Parents could be jailed if they took Mr Butler’s advice, says Labour MP By Daily Mail Parliamentary Correspondent PARENTS can be sent to prison if they take the advice of the Home Secretary to chastise their children, a lawyer M.P. claimed in the Commons yesterday. Mr Leslie Hale (Lab., Oldham West) was protesting at a speech […]
UNITED KINGDOM Domestic CP – June 1947 Corpun file 9017 Evening News, London, 30 June 1947 A Girl, Aged 19, Is Too Old To Be Whipped — K.C. WHEN Joan Mary Dowd, 19-year-old cashier, of Clyde-place, Forest Hill, was bound over at Bow-street to-day, for stealing 41 clothing coupons, 2lb. of sugar, and a […]
– Says Judge “A CHILD of 12 who wants to have her hair permanently waved should be taken over her mother’s knee and spanked,” said Judge Richardson at the County Court at Sunderland yesterday when a claim against a hairdresser for negligence came before him. Click to enlarge “If a child of this age gets […]
Daily Mail, London, 9 August 1902, p.3 Art of caning. How a magistrate would deal with refractory boys. Mr. Paul Taylor, the magistrate at Southwark, gave his views on the treatment of refractory boys yesterday when a lad of thirteen was brought before him charged with being beyond the control of his parents. The […]
The Times, London, 19 October 1795 In the course of the late Stafford Assizes, a cause was tried, in which the general right of a master to give corporal punishment to his servant, was fully explained by the Lord Chief Justice. The plaintiff was father of an infant about thirteen years old, whom he had engaged in […]