IN recent years, attitudes to domestic violence have changed dramatically - people no longer accept the shocking excuse that "she was asking for it". Similarly, most of us no longer think that a teacher hitting a pupil is acceptable.
However, as a survey revealed yesterday, that doesn't always extend to hitting children. The poll showed that a third of parents smack their children, with 73 per cent saying that they felt good behaviour is more important than making children feel g
ood about themselves.
But if parents are looking for better behaved children, we at Children 1st believe that hitting them isn't the answer. Our charity believes it is now time for Scotland to say that children and adults should enjoy equal protection from physical assault.
All of us want to be around children who are considerate, well-behaved and who respect others, but physical punishment does not instil these values.
Extensive data has shown that children who are frequently hit are more aggressive, and more prone to developing emotional and mental health problems, particularly depression.
In Scotland, the law currently allows adults to administer "reasonable chastisement" to children. In 2003, the law was changed to prohibit delivering blows to the head, shaking or using an instrument to punish youngsters. However, it stopped short of giving children equal protection to adults.
Having a clear position in law that it is not acceptable to physically punish a child would bring real benefits to many of Scotland's most vulnerable youngsters.
The law as it stands today makes it harder for people who suspect abuse to report their concerns because of uncertainty about what extent of physical chastisement is legal.
When children have been seriously injured or even killed by their parents, it often emerges that neighbours, friends or other relatives knew some of what was going on but did not feel able to report it. Many people oppose an outright ban on smacking as they fear it would lead to thousands of parents going before the courts.
However, in Sweden, where a complete ban was introduced in 1979, child assault prosecution rates have actually gone down since 1984.
If you ask children, they will tell you that being hit makes them feel "sore and hurt inside", scared, ashamed and angry.
They are also clear why their parents sometimes hit them, for example "because they were angry" or "lost it".
Callers to our national helpline, ParentLine, also tell us that they do not like hitting their children and would welcome effective, non-violent alternatives.
As part of its commitment to improving the physical and mental wellbeing of children, we call on the Scottish Executive to promote positive non-violent methods of discipline and to support parents in their valuable role.
Giving the inaugural Scottish Children 1st Lecture in Edinburgh earlier this month, Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, one of the UK's leading social and political commentators, also called for an end to the smacking of children.
Highlighting the Swedish example, she said that the ban there had led to lower rates of violent offending and had reduced incidents of violence, including bullying, between children.
She asserted there was no such thing as "a loving smack", and said that she had seen "too much of the bad stuff" in her work as a barrister, where parents justified their violent actions as being for the child's good.
She said: "We want our children to grow up to be disciplined and to learn to handle their own angry feelings, and they do not learn that from being hit".
Children 1st, the working name of the Royal Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children, is part of the UK-wide Children are Unbeatable Alliance, which lobbies for a total ban on hitting children and for the promotion of positive, non-violent discipline.
The Alliance enjoys the support of more than a hundred organisations across Scotland including Sacro, Women's Aid and the Scottish Childminding Association.
Sixteen countries have already outlawed the hitting of children and there is growing support for such a move here in Scotland.
Our youngsters learn by example, and physical punishment only teaches them that it is acceptable to hit out when people do something they do not like.
We hear much about the need for respect in society. We call for this respect to be extended to the most vulnerable members of society - children.
• Margaret McKay is chief executive of Children 1st. The free national helpline ParentLine is 0808-800 2222
The full article contains 764 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
