Most oppose banning smacking

Most adults in Britain do not believe parents should be criminalised for smacking their children, a major survey has revealed. 

Out of 4,000 adults polled by YouGov, less than a third said parents should be criminalised for smacking. The proportion of younger people (aged 18-24) who supported a ban was greater (50%) than older age groups. A total of 75% of adults aged at least 65 years were against criminalising parents. 

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has called for  politicians to remove the legal defence of ‘reasonable chastisement’ in England and Northern Ireland, saying existing laws are ‘dangerously vague’. Smacking is already banned in Wales and Scotland, but 51% of adults in those countries who were surveyed in the YouGov poll were opposed to criminalising parents .