Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Send a clear message to our children ..they & their protection matter most
Charity appeals for Stormont to copy Scotland & amend law on hitting kids
THE world as we know it has changed beyond recognition over the last eight months, and with Northern Ireland currently in further lockdown restrictions due to Covid-19, families and especially children and young people are bracing themselves for yet more struggles.
We a re g r o w i n g increasingly concerned that children are the hidden victims of the coronavirus crisis, with the NSPCC’S Childline providing a vital lifeline now more than ever.
NSPCC figures show that since lockdown began, there was an increase in contacts to Childline, from across the UK, about physical abuse.
Before the restrictions, there was an average of 420 counselling sessions per month which rose to an average of 514 per month after lockdown began.
Some of the contacts revealed the harrowing stories of children who have been subject to abuse, with many children unsure if what they are experiencing is physical punishment or abuse and most describing an escalation in the severity of violence towards them.
The damage caused to their mental and emotional health by these experiences is stark.
Additionally, the NSPCC helpline saw a 53% increase across the UK in contacts from adults with concerns about children experiencing physical abuse.
It rose from an average of 696 per month before lockdown to an average of 1,066 per month since lockdown.
These findings are featured in a series of Insight Briefings published by NSPCC, which looked at children’s lives during lockdown.
One 16-year-old girl told Childline: “When I was younger and I misbehaved, my mum gave me a warning and put me on the naughty step.
“Then when I got to around five to 12 years old, it was a tap or a little smack.
“But now it can be a proper smack or there was one occasion where she pulled my hair and I fell to the floor and she continuously hit me.” NSPCC is calling on the Northern Ireland Executive to put children at the heart of its response to recovery post-covid by sending a clear message to our children that they, and their protection, matter.
That’s why we are renewing our call for children to have equal protection in law from assault.
Currently, children are the only group in our society, who it is acceptable to strike in certain circumstances.
This means they have less protection from assault than all oth er groups in society.
The NSPCC has long campaigned for a l egal change which would see ‘reasonable chastisement’ removed as a defence for those charged with assaulting a child.
And now we are calling on the Northern Ireland Executive to revisit this archaic anomaly and bring
Northern Ireland into line with Scotland, where the law was changed on Saturday, and Wales, which is making the change, along with more than 60 other countries around the world including the Republic of Ireland.
A change to the law on physical punishment in Northern Ireland is about protecting children and prioritising their rights.
No new law would be created. Instead, there would be an amendment to current legislation.
This change should be accompanied with the provision of support for parents on more e f f e c t i v e , p o s i t i v e parenting techniques to help them cope with challenging and stressful situations.
Affording children equal protection from assault as adults and their peers in other parts of the UK and Ireland will send out a clear message from our Government that no form of physical violence is acceptable in any of our homes.
No form of physical violence is acceptable in homes NATALIE WHELEHAN, NSPCC NI, ON CAMPAIGN