Smacking children 'should be banned', says expert

Head of Child Protection Operations at the NSPCC, John Cameron, says children have a "greater likelihood" to be involved in criminal and anti-social behaviour if "they have been in receipt of smacking as a standard form of parenting".

Speaking with ITV News, Mr Cameron said smacking does not have a positive, long-term impact on children.

"This is not about prosecuting, persecuting and criminalising parents, but it's about giving a very strong message in our society that children should have the same rights as adults in law to be protected from physical assaults," he said.

Physical chastisement is physical abuse, the Children's Commissioner for England has said, urging smacking to be banned.

Maggie Atkinson told The Independent:

Parents should be banned from smacking children, according to the Children's Commissioner for England.

Maggie Atkinson told The Independent it was her personal view that the law gives pets and adults more rights to be protected from violence than children, and she favours a total ban, which would see parents face criminal action for corporal punishment.

Current rules make it illegal for a parent to smack a child if it leaves a bruise but permit a lighter smack or ''reasonable chastisement''.