Amend the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to protect children from assault

Abstract

The bill is an important opportunity to finally remove the “reasonable punishment” defence for smacking children in England, write Andrew Rowland and Grace Hastie The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill has now come before the UK parliament.1 The bill recognises the education sector as an important partner in child protection and, encouragingly, proposes the formation of multi-agency child protection teams. Yet there is a glaring missed opportunity to improve children’s wellbeing for generations to come: the bill’s failure to introduce equal protection from assault for children in England.2 This conflicts with the bill’s aim to improve children’s wellbeing, continues the inconsistency of the law in England with international children’s rights,3 and perpetuates an intergenerational cycle of violence towards children. Proposed amendments to the bill offer a chance to change this. Physical punishment of children undoubtedly harms their health, wellbeing, development, and behaviour on an individual …