Closed petition Abolish the parental 'right' to use corporal punishment

Closed on 5 August 2012

This petition urges the government to introduce legislation to remove the legal protection, at common law and under section 58 of the Children Act 2004, for parents who use corporal punishment against their children (or anyone else's children for that matter).
In a society where domestic violence against women is not tolerated, the idea that society's most vulnerable and defenceless members are approved for common assault appears appallingly uncivilised. For all the shrill rhetoric of societal implosion if Parliament were to legislate against the 'right to smack' the fact that children in the most deprived areas (where smacking is probably the most frequent) are more likely to resort to violence and crime as they grow older proves that this attempt at 'correction' actually causes more harm than good.
Corporal punishment teaches children that physical coercion should be acceptable as a means of acheiving our ends and that physical integrity is not something worthy of respect.