This is a briefing for DSL’s on Physical Chastisement and the Law
This document was produced to offer guidance on common safeguarding themes in Manchester Schools
“It is unlawful for a parent or carer to smack their child, except where this amounts to ‘reasonable punishment’. This defence is laid down in section 58 Children Act 2004, but it is not defined in this legislation. The term “reasonable” is subjective and ambiguous and excludes some forms of corporal punishments done to children from different ethnicities. “Reasonable chastisement” to us is a subjective concept and many parents’ understanding and interpretation of it can in turn be subjected to many other factors including culture, language, religion as well as their own experiences of “discipline” in childhood”
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