When will Labour ban hitting children (finally)?

[BurbageBrook]

I use the term hitting not smacking because 'smacking' minimises it. Since this has been banned (and about time too) in Wales and Scotland surely it will be a priority now that Labour have got in? Has anyone heard anything about it? It wasn't in the manifesto but maybe that's because it's only relevant to England, not the UK. I know Labour support banning it but I'm keen for it to happen ASAP as I feel really strongly about this. Has anyone heard anything?

No, they won’t, I wouldn’t imagine. They have gone very quiet on it,

I thought it was banned!! Christ why on earth isn't it?! I feel very stupid now.

I'm glad two people finally replied to my post! Well they banned it in Scotland and Wales so I would think they would get on with the job now they are in power in England. But they've certainly been quite quiet on it in their manifesto and subsequently.

I know, it's horrifying that it isn't. It's legal unless you leave a mark under the sickening term "reasonable chastisement". Physically harming a child can never be reasonable.

If I'm understanding you correctly, this seems like a dangerous path to me. Apart from the basic fact that parents have different ideas of discipline, and the home as much as if the government dictated rules for meals or sex, there is an incredible range of what might be covered, and most with no other witnesses.

It's not allowed in NZ. It hasn't caused any majors issues. It just makes people more aware there are better ways to discipline your children.

It has not caused any issue in Scotland.

It hasn't caused any issues in Wales either. It's helpful to have a clear line of what is unacceptable. Why should children not be protected from abuse when every other member of society is?

From England- honestly had no idea it was ‘allowed’ are we living in the 1950’s.

They won't

I agree op. How it's not illegal already is ridiculous.

It has been illegal in Sweden since 1979, what dangerous outcomes do you believe the banning of assaulting children has caused?

This. Why would it be 'dangerous' to make it illegal to assault your child? @MsAmerica did you think making marital rape a crime has led to a 'dangerous path'?

I rather doubt they will, but I think they should.

I thought I was pretty clear about why I thought it was dangerous.

Your reply moves me to add something else. I also think it's dangerous to use overly inflated melodramatic rhetoric, like implying that it's a matter of "assault." It reminds me of a situation where a woman was accusing a man of "assault" for putting an unwanted hand on her shoulder. "Marital rape" is specific. "Assault" is not.

Why don't you think it's assault for one person to hit another, @MsAmerica? Or is it only when that person is a child that they shouldn't have the right not to be hit just because an adult decides to do that?

But there are laws dictating who we can have sex with and what food we can buy so…

@MsAmerica but it's illegal for one adult to hit another adult, even if you don't leave a mark. So it makes no sense to allow an adult, significantly larger than a child, to hit that child.
Is it similarly dangerous that it's illegal for a man to hit his wife?

I'm not familiar with U.K. laws, but in the U.S. the government will not arrest you based on your dinner choices at home. Bacon may not be good for me, but I won't be arrested for eating it.

Really, tried bringing haggis, kinder surprise, horse meat, casu marzu or ackee into the US recently?

Ooh yes I’d forgotten you can’t get kinder surprise in the US!

Smuggling something illegal through customs is not at all the same thing as having someone dictate family behavior at home.

Dictating that you shouldn't hit your children doesn't seem revolutionary to me. I avoid hitting my DC every day and have for 13 years and counting.

Hitting children should not be seen as "family behaviour" any more than marital rape or incest is.
Why don't you think it should be banned @MsAmerica ?? You haven't explained at all. Do you think it's too complicated, too difficult to police, or do you think it's not serious enough to warrant banning?

Hopefully it will be banned soon - and I thought the whole of the UK had banned it.
It has been banned in Sweden and Finland for forty years. In Poland and Denmark they have banned smacking for more than twenty tears, New Zealand for nearly twenty, Ireland for nearly ten etc etc.
All countries should be banning the hitting of children.