In response to a joint statement released by the four commissioners on Sunday (22 January), the DfES said parents should still be able to decide how they discipline their children.
A DfES spokesperson said, 'The Government does not advocate physical punishment as a means of disciplining children, but recognises that some parents may feel on some occasions that they do not have an alternative.
Within the boundaries set by the law on assault, this is a matter for individual parental responsibility. It is an insult to ordinary, decent parents to suggest that they cannot distinguish between smacking and criminal violence, or that one usually leads to the other.'
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