Ensuring children’s wellbeing by ending the physical punishment of children Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill - Briefing for Committee Stage in House of Lords In 2025, it cannot be right that children, the youngest and most vulnerable group in society, are the least protected from physical assault. Leading organisations working in child health, child protection and safeguarding, human rights, mental health, youth advocacy, social care and more have jointly developed this briefing for parliamentarians to support our shared call to remove the “reasonable punishment” defence from law in England. We call on peers to support our campaign to give children in England equal protection from assault as part of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.
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Evidence shows that the physical punishment of children is harmful. Despite this, physical punishment remains lawful by virtue of the ‘reasonable punishment’ defence – an exception to the law of assault. This leaves children with less protection from assault than adults. The law as it stands is unclear and open to interpretation, making it harder to safeguard children. To achieve its intention to ‘make provision about the safeguarding and welfare of children’, MPs sought to amend the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to remove the ‘reasonable punishment’ defence during the Commons stage and we are now encouraging peers to support an amendment to the Bill in the Lords. This would give children equal protection from assault, to protect them from harm and to promote their health and wellbeing. To achieve its intention to ‘make provision about the safeguarding and welfare of children’ peers have sought to amend the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to remove the ‘reasonable punishment’ defence and we are now encouraging wider peer support for the amendment at Committee Stage.
How physical punishment affects children’s health, wellbeing and safety There is a wealth of evidence showing that physical punishment doesn’t work in managing children’s behaviour. Not only is it ineffective, but it can also have a significant negative impact on children’s health and wellbeing. A narrative review of almost seventy studies published in The Lancet in 2021 showed that physical punishment was linked with no positive outcomes for children1. Rather, it was linked to increased child behaviour problems over time. This is further supported by a report published by RCPCH last year which showed that children who
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Heilmann, A. et al (2021). Available at: Heilmann et al 2021 Physical punishment and child outcomes The Lancet Accepted author manuscript.pdf