This latest consultation follows similar ones in England, Scotland and Wales. In Scotland the consultation led to proposals earlier this month to give children under three legal protection against being smacked by their parents (News, 13 September).
Launching the consultation in Belfast last week, Mark Durkan, minister for finance and personnel, said any discussion of physical punishment had to be seen in the wider context of parenting and discipline issues. 'For many parents, effective discipline is seen as everything that teaches a child how to relate to the world and those in it, including teaching and rewarding good behaviour as well as punishing bad behaviour.
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