Comment children deserve full protection of the law

THERE was a time when a child slapping ban would have led to accusations of Ireland becoming a nanny state.

“Sure it never did me any harm,” is a common response when the issue is raised. “Nothing like a harmless smack to put manners on a bold child.”

For my generation, it was funny – and normal – to see Dennis the Menace’s father beat him with a slipper in The Beano comic. It was cartoon violence but violence nonetheless. 

I can still recall a time when teachers dished out physical punishment on a whim, some with more restraint than others.

Eventually it was no longer okay for children to be physically chastised in school, yet parents had carte blanche when it came to disciplining their own kids. Thanks to decades of work and campaigning by children’s advocacy groups, we now realise that many fathers and mothers seriously overstepped the mark when administering corporal punishment at home.

That’s why we have to take at face value the positive reaction of such organisations to Ireland’s latest step towards an outright slapping ban.

Last week, both the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) and the Children’s Rights Alliance warmly welcomed an amendment to the Children First Bill 2014 which will see the removal of the defence of reasonable chastisement from the common law. 

This change means that if a parent or carer is charged with assault or child cruelty, they won’t be able to claim in defence that they were only inflicting ‘reasonable chastisement’ in disciplining their child.

Both children’s organisations have long campaigned to see the removal of this defence to ensure that children have equal protection and rights under the law. They said it sent a strong message, echoing the result of the 2012 Children’s Referendum that “we, as a society, value children and that they must be treated equally before the law”. 

A statement from both groups said: “You cannot hit an adult in Ireland. The law should be no different for children. To date, 46 countries in the world have prohibited the corporal punishment of children, including 19 countries in the EU. It is long overdue that Ireland joins them.”

Grainia Long, ISPCC chief executive, commented: “We know from engaging with children on a daily basis through our Childline service that physical abuse is a pervasive and ongoing issue in the lives of some. 

“By allowing this defence to continue, society was saying that it is okay to harm a child. This amendment to legislation is a statement of intent and we welcome it wholeheartedly.”

Given the harrowing cases of cruelty to minors encountered by these groups, it is hard not to be swayed by the argument that any physical chastisement is fundamentally wrong and our children are most deserving of the full protection of the laws of the State.