Be Reasonable

Stop the smacking ban

Don’t let good parents be turned into criminals.

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Why The Law Needs To Remain Unchanged…

Good parents will be turned into criminals.

Police and social workers will be flooded with trivial cases, leaving them struggling to stop genuine child abuse.

Parents should decide whether to smack their children, not the government.

The current law already protects children from abuse. It needs to be enforced, not changed.

“Yeah, but…”

Answers to common arguments in favour of changing the law to criminalise parents

"Good Parents Are Not At Risk From A Change In The Law"

It has been argued that ‘trivial’ smacks would not be prosecuted if the law is changed. But why create a criminal offence if it is never going to be enforced? The reality is that once the defence of ‘reasonable chastisement’ is removed, any chastisement, however minor, will break the law and risk prosecution. It will inevitably catch ordinary parents, labelling them child abusers.

"Smacking Is A Form Of Child Abuse"

The current law already protects children from abuse. Reasonable chastisement is not to ‘attack’, to ‘beat’ or to ‘abuse’. Reasonable chastisement is not harmful or degrading. It is one form of loving discipline.

"Children Should Have The Same Protection As Adults"

Because children are not adults the law treats children differently in many different ways in order to protect them. Children are not allowed to drive, marry or own a firearms licence. Nobody claims this is ‘unfair’ or ‘unequal’ and it would be just as inappropriate to apply this argument to smacking. Children may also be confined to their bedrooms, required to eat their vegetables or have to go to bed at a particular time - ‘restrictions’ which would not be applied to adults.

"Smacking Teaches Children To Use Violence"

Adults who were smacked as children are now law abiding citizens. Reasonable chastisement helps to train children to know how to behave, to set clear boundaries and to equip them for adult life. It has its basis in the unique relationship between parents and their children. Reasonable chastisement is a part of loving parenting.

"Smacking Is A Grey Area In The Law - It's Safer To Just Ban It"

The present law is clear that ‘reasonable chastisement’ is acceptable and it is working. Banning smacking would only divert resources away from protecting abused children. The Government should concentrate on improving awareness of the current law, rather than seeking to abolish it.

Be Reasonable – Stop the assault on parenting

 

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What is being proposed?

Currently parents in Northern Ireland are protected from being charged with assault if they smack their own children under the ‘reasonable chastisement defence’. Campaigners propose to remove this protection.

Does the law need to be changed?

No. Any discipline that is immoderate or excessive is already against the law. The reasonable chastisement defence could not be used in cases where ‘actual bodily harm’ is caused – defined as anything more than transitory reddening of the skin. If a parent uses unreasonable chastisement they already face a fine, a community order or up to five years in jail.

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