Smack my kids up!

Ban on parents smacking children considered

AN OUTRIGHT ban on the smacking of children by their parents is under consideration by Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald.
A new law to ban corporal punishment in the home is one of two options under consideration. The other is an amendment to existing laws to restrict the circumstances in which parents can plead a defence of “reasonable chastisement” of their children.

Great. So what are parents supposed to use? Harsh language? But that's probably banned too.
Why do these muppets think reasonable chastisement of children is wrong? Child abuse is already against the law. Beating your children is illegal and there are laws in place to deal with it, however parents need to be able to teach their children discipline or they just end up raising little terrors who get away with what they want because they can't be punished.

The Children’s Act, 1908, gave parents the right to use “reasonable and moderate chastisement” in disciplining children but this provision was repealed by the 2001 Children’s Act. However, removal of the common law defence requires an explicit provision in new legislation.

It's how this ban might be policed that worries me the most. Coppers won't be entering peoples homes to check if they are smacking their kids. CCTV won't be used to monitor children in the home so what will it be? It will be the schools won't it. Primary school children will be encouraged to tell their teachers if their parents are smacking them. Children will be encouraged to inform on their parents.

Corporal punishment of children is prohibited in all settings, including the home, in 18 of the 47 member states of the Council of Europe, but in Ireland outlawing physical punishment is seen as problematic given the constitutional guarantees regarding the family. The council and other international bodies have repeatedly criticised the absence of a ban in Irish law.

What has it come to when the Government views constitutional guarantees as 'problematic'?