SCOTLAND’S first Children’s Commissioner - a vocal campaigner against the chastisement of youngsters - has admitted she smacked her daughter and two sons when they were young.
In an astonishing admission, Kathleen Marshall, who last weekend became embroiled in a row over whether parents should shout at their children, told The Scotsman that she had administered a "wee smack" to her own, but said she felt guilty about it at
the time and had since decided it was wrong.
Mrs Marshall, 51, said she wanted to show parents she was not being "self-righteous" in calling for a ban. She said smacking had previously been an expected part of parental discipline, but claimed the argument against it was being won, with more parents viewing physical punishment of children as wrong.
However, her admission has led to claims that she is "sounding off" and contradicting her case for a ban on smacking.
Last Sunday, Mrs Marshall was reported as saying parents and teachers should not shout at children. She maintains, however, she was arguing only against "abusive and humiliating shouting".
Asked if she smacked her children, Mrs Marshall told The Scotsman: "When they were wee, yes I did. I’ve been quite open about that. I immediately go into defensive mode and say it was a wee smack. I sometimes thought about it, was it right, but it was what you were expected to do."
She said she realised it was wrong after she started working at the Scottish Child Law Centre in the late 1980s, when someone simply said parents did not need to hit their children. She described that moment as "a tremendous relief".
She felt her own experiences were useful when trying to persuade other parents - who sometimes felt she thought of them as child abusers - not to use smacking.
Mrs Marshall said children should be given the same protection from assault as adults.
However, Norman Wells, director of the pro-smacking Family Education Trust, claimed research showed smacking had a "positive role to play in the discipline of children" if used as part of a "loving and stable parent/child relationship".
"Is she [Mrs Marshall] really saying it would have benefited her and her children to be in court with her children testifying against her? I doubt she would say that," he said.
"Would it really be in the interests of her children to have a major social services investigation and her children placed on the ‘at risk’ register? It’s just crazy."
Last year, the Scottish Executive dropped plans for a complete ban on physical punishment of children. But the law was changed in October last year to outlaw hitting on the head, shaking and punishing with a belt, cane or other implement. Only "reasonable chastisement" is allowed.
A senior Labour Party source said Mrs Marshall could be in trouble because of her remarks.
The source said some Labour MSPs had been concerned about the whole idea of appointing a children’s commissioner because they feared "you would get somebody who would sound off - as she is doing - about the things she feels strongly about".
Pauline McNeill, the Labour convener of the Scottish Parliament’s justice 1 committee, said the fact that Mrs Marshall had smacked previously reassured her that parliament had made the right decision when it decided not to completely outlaw physical punishment.
"It’s reassuring that her experience is similar to a lot of parents. It’s reassuring to know she’s been open about it and parliament was right," she said.
"People are not bad parents because they smack their kids over the back of their hands."
She added: "I would be cautioning the commissioner against re-opening a debate that parliament has already deliberated on."
The SNP justice spokeswoman, Nicola Sturgeon, also felt the debate on smacking was over. "It’s not an issue I would want to see opened up again.
"No-one wants to see children subjected to physical abuse in any shape or form, but whether that means there should be an outright ban on smacking is a different matter. I tend to think we should adopt a ‘commonsense’ approach," she said.
