Between April 2023 and March this year, the charity’s helpline received 1,451 calls from people cross the UK that mentioned physical punishment against children – more than three times more than calls received about the topic the year before.
Some 45% of the concerns raised were serious enough to need a referral to children’s social services, the police, or other services, according to the NSPCC.
Calls included reports of children being hit, slapped, and shaken, as part of discipline and punishment and increased over the summer months when “children were more visible to other members of the public rather than in school”.
One in 10 calls were made by children themselves, with reports also received from professionals who work with children.
Speaking to NSPCC helpline staff, one adult caller said: “I just left after visiting my friend and their three-year-old boy. Their son was messing around a bit and when he wouldn’t stop the dad pulled him over his knee and smacked him twice.
“I must have looked shocked because his dad said it’s ok because he never leaves bruises, but the little one was crying and hid for the rest of the visit. It didn’t feel ok.”
The charity is urging Keir Starmer’s government to ensure children in England have equal protection from physical punishments as adults through the introduction of legislation seen in both Scotland and Wales.
Currently, in England luse of the defence of “reasonable punishment” means that children are the only members of society who are not fully protected from physical assault, according to the NSPCC.
The charity states that it is not calling for a “smacking ban”.
A spokesperson said: “We are calling for equal protection and make the law of assault equal for both children and adults.
“This isn’t about criminalising parents, rather it’s about giving children the best possible start in life. There are much better and safer ways to respond to a child’s behaviour than through the use of physical force.”
A recent YouGov survey, commissioned by the NSPCC shows rising levels of support from people in England to give children the same legal protection as adults against physical punishment, from 67% to 71% in 2024.
