Disciplining Children

The law on smacking

It is not illegal to smack your child as long as the ‘smack’ amounts to ‘reasonable punishment’. Unreasonable punishment is defined as a ‘smack’ that leaves a mark on the child or if the child is hit by the use of an implement such as a belt or a cane. Section 58 of the Children Act 2004 clarified the defence by stipulating that any hitting that causes bruising, swelling, cuts, grazes or scratches punishable with up to five years in jail.

It is illegal for a teacher, child carers and nursery workers to hit another person’s child however a parent may give their nanny or babysitter permission to ‘smack’ their child as long as it amounts to ‘reasonable punishment’. The government has recently announced a change in the law for teachers and the ‘no touch’ law. Once this law is changed a teacher will be able to restrain children who are disruptive. It will not allow the teacher to hit the child.

In 2008, a group of MPs tried to change the law for ‘reasonable punishment’ and introduce an all-out ban on parents smacking their children. The NSPCC and other children’s charities have been rigorously campaigning for a total ban on smacking but this has not yet come in to force and is unlikely to do so for the foreseeable future.