Children’s awareness of physical punishment legislation and children’s rights

Main findings 

Comparison of findings marked with an * are statistically significant, that is, they are likely to reflect a genuine difference over time or between population groups’.

Awareness and understanding of protection from physical punishment

The vast majority (87%) of 7 to 18 year olds surveyed correctly believed that parents and other care givers were not allowed to physically punish children in Wales. 

This finding was consistent across different school year groupings – year 2 to 6, year 7 to 11 and year 12 to 13. In each of these three groups, most (89%, 86% and 89%) respectively thought that physical punishment of children by parents/care givers was not allowed.

Children and young people living in households classified as ABC1 were slightly more likely to believe that physical punishment of children in Wales by their parents/care givers was allowed versus those in C2DE households (13% vs 7%).*

Those who responded that physical punishment of children by parents and care givers was not allowed were asked the extent of their knowledge on being protected from being physically punished. Around 6 in 10 (58%) had heard of it and had a fair idea of what it meant. A third (33%) had heard of it but were not sure what being protected from physical punishment meant and around 1 in 10 (9%) were unsure of the extent of their knowledge.   

There were some differences on the extent of knowledge of the legislation by school year grouping. Those in year 2 to 6 were less likely to say they had a fair idea of what being protected from physical punishment meant (51% vs 59% for year 7 to 11 and 63% for year 12 to 13) and more likely to say they were unsure about their level of knowledge (14% vs. 7% vs. 4% respectively).* 

Children and young people living in households classified as ABC1 were slightly more likely to believe that physical punishment of children in Wales by their parents/care givers was allowed versus those in C2DE households (13% vs 7%).* 

Sources of Information on protection from physical punishment

Those who had heard something about children being protected from physical punishment by their parent or other care givers were most likely to find this out from teachers or school council (57%) and parents (51%). The two other main sources of information on this were social media (31%) and TV advert (26%).

Whilst all school year groupings have the same top four sources of information on protection from physical punishment, there were some differences on the extent of mention of each of these.  Older school year groupings – year 12 to 13 and year 7 to 11 - were less likely to find out information from their parents than the youngest school year group – year 2 to 6 (46% vs. 52% vs. 63%, respectively).*

Awareness of Legislation on Physical Punishment

Respondents were then asked if they were aware that there was a law in place that prevented all physical punishment of children by parents and other care givers. Around three-quarters (76%) reported that they were aware that this law was in place. Around 1 in 5 (18%) had not heard of this law and 6% were unsure.

Older school year groups – both year 7 to 11 and year 12 to 13 – were more likely to be aware of the law than those in year 2-6. (80% and 78% versus 70% respectively).*

Awareness and knowledge of Children’s Rights

Nearly all (99%) of children and young people were aware that they had rights.

The level of knowledge of these rights varied. Around two-fifths (42%) were aware they had rights but didn’t know anything about them. A similar proportion (41%) were aware of them and claimed they could list a few and a smaller number (15%) claimed to know a great deal about them.

Level of knowledge of rights varied by school year grouping – reported knowledge of rights increased with older school year age groupings. For example, 48% of those in year 2 to 6 reported to be able to list a few rights or knew a great deal about them. The equivalent proportions among year 7 to 11 and among year 12-13 were 53% and 70% respectively.*

Those living in ABC1 households reported higher levels of knowledge of rights than their counterparts in C2DE households. 64% of those in ABC1 households reported they could list a few rights or knew a great deal about them compared to 49% who stated this in C2DE households.*

Awareness and knowledge of the UN Convention on Rights of a Child (UNCRC)

Those in school year 12 to 13 were more likely to be aware of UNCRC than younger school year groupings – around two-thirds (67%) were aware of it compared with just over half for both year 7 to 11 (55%) and year 2 to 6 (54%).*

The older school year group were also most likely to have a higher level of knowledge of the UNCRC – 29% of year 12 to 13 reported having a fair idea of the rights involved compared with 17% and 21% respectively among year 7 to 11 and year 2 to 6.*