Maggie Atkinson, the Children’s Commissioner for England, is
100% right to call for equal protection for children to be enshrined in law. It
seems bizarre, and very wrong, that adults are protected from all types of physical assaults,
while children are not.
The debate is not about 'criminalising' parents. That’s a
point made well by the NSPCC’s John Cameron, who also stresses that smacking can
result in children developing anti-social behaviour.
This is an issue that in a caring and sensible society
should not detain us long. The law should be changed forthwith. I fear, however, that craven politicians and the
rantings of some tabloid journalists will continue to prevent a sane and
sensible outcome, in the short term at least.
