Head welcomes ‘smacking ban’

A Llanelli headteacher has welcomed the so-called ‘smacking ban’ in Wales.

The physical punishment of children is now outlawed in Wales.

Stephen Thomas, headteacher of Ysgol y Bryn in Bryn, said: “Physical punishment has no place in raising children.

“Providing consistency, good routines and being role models for our children in the values we would like them to display creates good people.”

Any type of corporal punishment, including smacking, hitting, slapping and shaking, has been made illegal in Wales from Monday.

The ban was brought in under the Children (Abolition of Defence of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Act 2020 and marks the end of the common law defence of “reasonable punishment”.

It means children will get the same protection from assault as adults, and the law will apply to everyone, even those visiting Wales – as is the case with all Welsh laws.

Parents or anyone who is responsible for a child while the parents are absent can now face criminal or civil charges if they are found to have physically disciplined a young person in any way.

Critics of the law change have said it will criminalise parents, but the Welsh Government has insisted the move is about protecting children’s rights.

First Minister Mark Drakeford said: “The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child makes it clear that children have the right to be protected from harm and from being hurt and this includes physical punishment.

“That right is now enshrined in Welsh law. No more grey areas. No more ‘defence of reasonable punishment’. That is all in the past.”

He added: “There is no place for physical punishment in a modern Wales.”

Wales joins more than 60 nations worldwide in legislating against the physical punishment of children.