ABSTRACT
Tangible progress has been achieved regarding young people’s rights within school settings since the 1980s (see Jeffs, 1995). First corporal punishment has been eradicated. So significant has been the shift that teachers who caned and slapped with impunity a decade ago now face automatic suspension if accused and dismissal if guilty. Britain, the last European country to outlaw corporal punishment, did so not because public opinion desired or politicians willed it but because the European Court of Human Rights insisted on it. Reluctant acceptance of the decision by politicians, teacher unions and the public reflects a widespread belief that hitting children is acceptable and Europe wrong to meddle. Consequently regulations are now imposed on schoolteachers that neither the majority of politicians nor the public apply to themselves. Consequently, humbug and hypocrisy surround the issue of violence against children. The previous Secretary of State for Education, for example, who enforced the regulations “de-frocking” teachers who use violence, unapologetically boasts in an interview “I smacked my children and it worked” before proceeding to argue that parents, nannies and childminders (but not teachers struggling to control a class rather than an individual child) must retain the right to smack because it is often “the only way of getting the message across” (Wheen, 2000: 7). By “message” he presumably means the need for obedience rather than the superiority of violence over negotiation or persuasion? He is not alone in advocating this tactic. The current Prime Minister, ex-Leader of the Opposition and Archbishop of Canterbury all advocate violence against children, everywhere except in the school. Even the Prince of Wales offers very public support to a teacher accused of unlawfully slapping a child (Henry, 2000). Fortunately European legislation currently prevents politicians putting the clock back. However the two main parties are determined to avoid being classified as “soft” and therefore support childminders’ right to smack (Hackett, 2001).
