Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:28 pm on 26 March 2019.
Well, I thank Caroline Jones for her contribution, and I'd just like to make it absolutely plain that the business of normal parenting will continue as it is now. There will be absolutely no reason why parents can't deal with a struggling child, that they can protect them from danger, that they may have to make sure that they go in a car seat and you've got to struggle with them to do it—just the nature of being a parent, none of that is affected. So, please, I want Caroline Jones to be absolutely sure—and everybody in this Chamber to understand—that nothing like that is going to be affected by this law. What is being affected by this law is physical punishment. It is using a physical means to punish a child, and there are many, many other ways that you can punish a child, and, in fact, children themselves have said things that may be more effective, such as withdrawing privileges or stopping you watching the television or having your phone taken from you, which seems to be the worst thing of all. So, there are lots of things that you can actually do, and that's what children themselves, from the feedback, have said we can do. 'Parenting. Give it Time.', which I think you referred to, is a way of helping parents, though we don't have any statistics from there, but all the research that we've commissioned and the Government has commissioned have shown that a large majority of actual parents are in support, basically, of this legislation.
I think the academic who you referred to is an isolated academic. We have a whole group of academics for protection of children who regularly make statements about how supportive they are of moving towards this legislation, and have actually campaigned for years with many of the other bodies that have campaigned for years.
And then, finally, a change in the law, by itself, I absolutely agree, will not achieve everything we want to achieve. It's got to be done with the support and with the information, but a change in the law does signal to the whole of society here in Wales that we don't accept physical punishment. We don't want that to be the sort of way that we operate in Wales, and I'm really proud that we're able to bring this legislation forward. We're with the tide. Scotland is doing it at the same time; Ireland has done it. I have no doubt that England will do it soon.