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	Our young have a right to total bodily integrity and a right not to experience violent behaviour</h2>
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		&#39;Slapping Children is Wrong &ndash; Pass it On&quot; was the slogan of an ISPCC billboard campaign in the Nineties. At the time, reaction to the campaign was ferocious with claims that its aim was to turn children against their parents and criminalise parents. Even some child-protection professionals claimed it was a step too far.</h2>
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		Since then, various international and national authorities, including the<a href="http://searchtopics.independent.ie/topic/United_Nations" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1em; color: rgb(92, 139, 63); margin-bottom: 0px !important;">United Nations</a>&nbsp;Convention Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Government&#39;s own Special Rapporteur on Child Protection, have called for a legal ban on corporal punishment. Yet, slapping children, when characterised as reasonable chastisement by a parent, legal care-giver, child minder or foster parent, remains legal in Ireland.</p>
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		The arguments against a legal ban have not changed since the Nineties despite all of the child-abuse scandals that have emerged since then and despite the passing of a children&#39;s rights constitutional amendment last year. Many policy-makers argue that legislation is unnecessary because parenting practice is changing and fewer parents now slap their children. They also fear that introducing a legislative ban would be viewed as too draconian and an over-interference in family life, even by parents who don&#39;t condone slapping.</p>
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		It is estimated that in Ireland only 35 per cent of the population believe that corporal punishment should remain legal. When a ban on physical punishment was introduced in Sweden in 1965, 53 per cent opposed it. Following the ban, this figure reduced to 11 per cent. In the UK, it is estimated that less than 20 per cent support such a measure.</p>
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		Research and international child protection best practice all support the need for a ban. Evidence from across the world indicates that slapping children does them no good and can, and often does, cause them harm. Consistent corporal punishment of children is associated with increased aggression, anti-social behaviour and emotional and psychological difficulties. It impacts negatively on a child&#39;s self-esteem and confidence and by virtue of this leaves them vulnerable to exploitation by others, either as children or when they become adults.</p>
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		We have direct evidence of the impact of serious corporal punishment on Irish children through the revelations of the survivors of state childcare institutions. Their stories provide harrowing accounts of what can happen in the name of reasonable chastisement.</p>
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		Those who condone slapping argue that there is a vast difference between &quot;a slap&quot; and corporal punishment or physical abuse. But the difference lies in the extent of the behaviour, not in the intention or the impact. Slapping degrades a child and conveys a message that an adult can hurt him or her whenever they want. It disempowers a child and it decreases the quality of the parent-child relationship.</p>
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			The most significant argument supporting a legal ban on corporal punishment is a rights one. Like all other citizens, children have a right to total bodily integrity and a right not to experience degrading or violent behaviour. Rights are the foundation on which civilised societies are built. If we do not afford children the same rights as all other citizens, they will inevitably be more vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.</p>
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			The Irish State, with its acknowledged failure of children in the past, should want to take every action possible to ensure children&#39;s rights are protected. The Government should be seeking to create a state that is exemplary on the protection and promotion of children&#39;s rights. It is difficult not to conclude that underpinning the reluctance to tackle this issue is a more deeply ingrained misconception about children. This misconception centres on viewing children as the property of their parents rather than individual citizens in their own right. This was enshrined in our Constitution until the passing of the recent amendment. Changing belief systems about children will require more than constitutional change.</p>
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			<span class="CTXempty" style="margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px; font-size: 1em; text-decoration: inherit !important; float: none !important;">The role of the State is to support parents to rear and protect their children as well as they can. This should ensure parents are given the best opportunity to raise their children in a&nbsp;<span id="link0" name="link0" style="margin: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1px !important; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 1em; height: auto; cursor: pointer; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 153, 0); text-decoration: underline !important; color: rgb(0, 153, 0) !important;">healthy</span>, nurturing environment. Introducing a legal ban on corporal punishment would lay down a marker for parents and would support them to make the right decisions when it comes to disciplining their children.</span></p>
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			For any government, banning slapping is a courageous move. The Minister for Children,&nbsp;<a href="http://searchtopics.independent.ie/topic/Frances_Fitzgerald_(politician)" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1em; color: rgb(92, 139, 63); margin-bottom: 0px !important;">Frances Fitzgerald</a>, has already shown a commitment to children&#39;s rights by leading on the passing of a constitutional amendment. She is best placed and has the political courage to legislate for what is a seminal children&#39;s rights and child-protection issue.</p>
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			All right-thinking parents should support her to deliver this crucial reform.</p>
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			<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1em;">Paul Gilligan is a clinical psychologist and chairman of the Children&#39;s Rights Alliance</em></p>
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			<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1em;"><a href="http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/paul-gilligan-history-of-abuse-shows-that-slapping-ban-protects-children-29561446.html">http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/paul-gilligan-history-of-abuse-shows-that-slapping-ban-protects-children-29561446.html</a></em></p>
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