Parents will be caught unaware by smacking ban, campaigners say
Parents will be ‘ caught unaware’ when a S cotland-wide b a n o n s ma c k i n g c h i l d r e n comes into force next month, campaigners have warned.
There are fears the focus on the coronavirus pandemic has “exacerbated” the situation with many of the usual channels of communication cut off.
The S cottish Government has allocated £20,000 for an awareness-raising push about the law change but no comprehensive national campaign is to be undertaken.
Mi n i s t e r s i n s i s t t h a t t h e y have worked with par tners t o e n s u r e a dv i c e a b o u t t h e change is shared with a “wide audience”.
Pa r e n t s wh o s ma c k t h e i r children could be prosecuted under the Children (Equal P r o t e c t i o n f r o m A s s a u l t ) (Scotland) Act 2019 which will come into effect on November 7. Social work and police inter vention could also fol
low if they continue to smack youngsters.
The Be Reasonable campaign group, which opposes the ban, used freedom of information to obtain a letter sent in June by a Scottish Government official to a local authority.
The letter states that Mministers “are not planning a national marketing campaign” on the smacking ban.
The letter claims that awareness-raising can be achieved by “other means”, including circulars to different organisations, a factsheet aimed at parents, a new page on the Scottish Government website and the government’s flagship parenting site Parent Club.
Dr Ashley Frawley, a sociologist and spokeswoman for the Be Reasonable campaign, said: “There’s a strong argument that the Scottish Government has failed in its dut y to raise public awareness about the smacking ban. With just over a month to go until the ban is i mp l e me n t e d , n o t h i n g h a s been done to tell families what it means.”
She added: “Many parents wi l l s i mpl y b e c a u g h t u n awares. The situation has been exacerbated by the coronavirus crisis which has left parents disconnected from the usual channels of communication – schools, nurseries and clubs, where discussions over parenting often take place.”
But a Scottish Government sp okeswoman insisted that adequate awareness-raising will be undertaken and there are not expected to be a large number of prosecutions.