Children Are Unbeatable
The following article so incensed me that I was compelled to write this poem!
Conference
14/09/03
Conference notes that:
· Hitting children is wrong and the law should say so.
· The international and domestic pressure for law reform is now overwhelming.
· Equal protection for children is a human rights obligation, not an optional extra.
· Changing the law to protect children from being hit is a key child protection concern.On Monday 5 July, 2004, the House of Lords voted against the cross-party New Clause to the Children Bill that would give children equal protection under the law on assault. The Government did not allow a free conscience vote and "whipped" (sic) Labour Peers to oppose equal protection reform. Instead, the Government allowed a "free vote" on a proposal put forward by Lord Lester of Herne Hill that would allow the common assault of children to be justified as lawful punishment.
This was passed.The sponsors of the New Clause on equal protection commented:
Baroness Finlay of Llandaff: "Children are smaller and more vulnerable than the rest of us, yet the current law affords them less protection from assault. Is it really too much to ask to give children the protection that we take for granted?"
Baroness Whitaker: "Children are people and have human rights like the rest of us. In the 21st Century, it is high time that children's right to equal protection from assault is recognised."
Baroness Walmsley: "At least 12 European countries already give children equal protection from assault. It works there, changing attitudes and behaviour for the better, and it can work here too."
This consultation exercise produced ten major messages:
Children defined smacking as hitting; most of them described a smack as a hard or very hard hit.
Children said smacking hurts.
The children we listened to said children are the main people who dislike smacking followed by parents, friends and grandparents.
The vast majority of the children who took part thought smacking was wrong.
The children said children respond negatively to being smacked, and adults regret smacking.
The children said parents and other grown ups are the people that mostly smack children.
The children said they usually get smacked indoors and on the bottom, arm or head.
The children said the main reasons children are smacked include: they have been violent themselves; they have been naughty or mischievous; they have broken or spoiled things; or because they have disobeyed or failed to listen to their parents.
The children we listened to said children do not smack adults because they are scared they will be hit again; adults do not smack each other because they are big and know better and because they love and care about each other.
Half the children involved in this consultation exercise said they will not smack children when they are adults; five year-olds most often said they will not smack children when they are big.