Consultation on the Children (Abolition of Defence of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Bill

Tystiolaeth i’r Pwyllgor Plant, Pobl Ifanc ac Addysg ar gyfer craffu Cyfnod 1 Bil Plant (Diddymu Amddiffyniad Cosb Resymol) (Cymru)

Evidence submitted to the Children, Young People and Education Committee for Stage 1 scrutiny of the Children (Abolition of Defence of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Bill

CADRP-157

CADRP-157

 

About you

Individual

1      The Bill’s general principles

1.1     Do you support the principles of the Children (Abolition of Defence of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Bill?

— No

1.2     Please outline your reasons for your answer to question 1.1

(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)

Reasonable and controlled physical punishment of an erring child is as old as human records relate, and has always been found to be an appropriate way to deal with unacceptable behaviour, among other reasons because it is immediate, unmistakeable in purpose in normal circumstances, and does not require mature intellectual capacity in order to be understood. It is a normal instrument in the socialisation of a child.

For government to intrude upon this - except in obvious cases of child abuse already recognised as such in law - would be characteristic of authoritarian regimes which claim control over the total life of human societies. It would be a prime instance of illiberal state interference in a matter which should not concern it.

There is a real danger, too, that if parents are precluded by law from inflicting mild punishment of a corrective kind, anger and frustration can build up resulting in far worse consequences - indeed, possibly resulting in serious assault upon the child occasioning real harm to mind or body.

1.3     Do you think there is a need for legislation to deliver what this Bill is trying to achieve?

(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)

There is no need for legislation, given that the Law already forbids and punishes excessive physical punishment. The tools already exist for child protection. To extend the Law further would only be to make it more difficult and certainly more arbitrary to apply, thus actually lessening the degree of protection owed to vulnerable children.

2      The Bill’s implementation

2.1     Do you have any comments about any potential barriers to  implementing the Bill? If no, go to question 3.1

(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)

-

2.2     Do you think the Bill takes account of these potential barriers?

(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)

-

3      Unintended consequences

3.1     Do you think there are there any unintended consequences arising from the Bill? If no, go to question 4.1

(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)

If this legislation were passed. it would certainly criminalise parents hitherto deemed responsible and label their families, hitherto thought socially positive, antisocial. Ironically, children of such families, trained to be considerate of others, would be labelled as brought up in incoherent homes. Whether these consequences can be thought unintended is a moot point. They are so obviously what would happen that we can only assume that the promoters of this legislation really do intend them.

The real question here is: what sort of children do the Welsh government wish to see in the coming years - children trained to be considerate of others, or children schooled to getting their own way without threat or sanction? We have all at one or another suffered from the rampages of children brought up in over-liberal homes!

4      Financial implications

4.1     Do you have any comments on the financial implications of the Bill (as set out in Part 2 of the Explanatory Memorandum)? If no, go to question 5.1

(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)

5      Other considerations

5.1     Do you have any other points you wish to raise about this Bill?

(we would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 1000 words)

A serious and impartial study of the effects of such legislation over some decades in a country such as Sweden might well be helpful. To repeat the mistakes made by others is not clever.