Middlesbrough Smack
Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 7:00 am
Massive support to end smacking ban: Some parents say it would have prevented summer riots
• One in three parents scared to smack for fear of getting into trouble with the authorities
• Two in three blame the 'no hitting' law for riots
By Simon Walters
Last updated at 2:05 AM on 5th February 2012
Calls to scrap curbs on smacking have overwhelming public support – and parents believe such a move would help prevent a repeat of last summer’s riots.
It would also lead to a general improvement in behaviour by young people. But one in three parents is scared to smack for fear of getting into trouble with the authorities.
These are the findings of a Mail on Sunday survey conducted after our report last week on comments by David Lammy, Labour MP for Tottenham, North London, where the riots began.
He said parents in his constituency opposed the 2004 change in the law by the last Labour Government that means parents who smack their children can be jailed if it causes ‘reddening of the skin’.
They were frightened to smack their children in case they were taken away by the authorities, said former Education Minister Mr Lammy.
He argued that the law should now be reversed because smacking is a vital way of disciplining children, particularly for single mothers in inner cities where gangs and knife crime are rife.
Mr Lammy’s plea was supported by a majority of two to one. Nearly one in three parents said they feared being punished by the authorities if they smacked their children.
The MP had come under fire from some critics for saying the smacking curbs were a factor in last year’s riots. But 41 per cent of voters agree with Mr Lammy – with 37 against.
Nearly two in three blame the smacking law for a decline in discipline among the young, with fewer than one in four in disagreement.
More than nine out of ten in the survey were smacked as children. Most think it made them more disciplined.
Nearly four out of five parents said they had smacked their children, including four per cent frequently, 21 per cent sometimes and 53 per cent occasionally. A total of 22 per cent said that they had never smacked their offspring.
The poll showed children of Lib Dem supporters are least likely to be smacked.
Only 15 per cent of Lib Dem parents smack their children compared with 26 per cent of Labour supporters and 33 per cent of Conservatives.
Mr Lammy said that following our report last week, he had received many messages of support from parents.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1lUKU4vO1
