Hmm not sure about this. While I agree that it's better if parents do not lightly smack their children as there are usually better alternatives and I certainly agree with prosecuting excessive hitting, I don't see what is to be gained by criminalising light smacking or a light cuff or a slap on the hand. It depends on what they classify as a smack and the consequences for the family if a parent smacks a child's hand or leg. If this is to send a message to parents who carry out excessive hitting but does not criminalise light smacks, fair enough.
In Sweden, the first country to ban smacking, you just get a social worker coming round offering support groups and alternatives to smacking.
I do not see how prosecution helps a family where a parent has lightly smacked their child in what was actually a relatively loving, stable home-life before the state intervened. Bit difficult to earn an income with a criminal record, and a parent being prosecuted for a light smack resulting in loss of income and more financial stress for the whole family will I think pretty much end any relationship between parent and child. Our care system is not one that is likely to provide a good outcome to children, especially with the limited funding,
I don't agree with the human rights argument that you can't hit other adults so you should not be able to smack your children. Other adults are different from your own children. You are not financially responsible for other adults, you are not responsible for ensuring other adults go to school and you are not held accountable for the actions of other adults by society. Also you have so many alternative options against other adults which are far easier than hitting adults who oppose you in a stressful situation - stop talking to them, walk away and stay away from them for a few days, distract yourself with other tasks so you don't have to think about them until you feel minded to resume a relationship, have a discussion at another time when you have time to talk to them, avoid them long-term, refuse to let them into your house until they respect your wishes, refuse to feed and clothe or fund them. You don't have those options with a wilful 5 year old - you're stuck with them and if a light smack helps the family achieve certain important outcomes, even if it briefly upsets the child, I am against prioritising the child's feelings or rights in those situations by criminalising a light smack.
New Zealand has a smacking ban but does not prosecute parents for light smacking. Oranga Tamariki, the Ministry for Vulnerable Children, says it would not act on reports of a light smack to a child, unless a report of smacking is part of wider concerns for the child.
On its website, the agency says it is concerned "with the abuse and neglect of children, not incidents of light smacking," and an open-palmed light smack is "most unlikely to constitute abuse".
A recent poll showed that 51% of New Zealanders believed that the 2007 anti-smacking law there caused a decline in discipline.
The poll carried out at the beginning of last December also indicated that almost 40% of mothers of young children say they have smacked despite the law change.
70% also said they would not report a parent who they saw smacking their child on the backside or hand.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/are-parents-still-smacking-their-kids/TSATJN4W5D6RSO4X4F7XK2275I/
