'Sdim Curo Plant!/Children Are Unbeatable! are launching a new toolkit to help change attitudes to smacking at the Senedd in Cardiff on March 13^th 2008.

The Help at Hand Toolkit is an online resource providing materials which can be used to:

• Increase in the number of people who actively support a change to the law on smacking in the UK
• Decrease the incidence of physical punishment of children
• Decrease the percentage of the population who find the physical punishment of children acceptable

The Help at Hand Toolkit provides a comprehensive guide to looking at the issues surrounding the physical punishment of children.  It includes:

• Resources - such as leaflets, parenting packs and websites that deal with issues of physical punishment.  Each resource is graded on a 5-point system, according to how useful it is on these issues. The website tells you how to access each resource.
• Activities - a series of activities that can be used in groupwork, presentations, and with individuals to consider physical punishment.
• Information sheets - brief digests of significant facts, figures and suggestions in the work of outlawing the physical punishment of children.
• Modules - suggestions about which materials are best to use for various groups, such as parents, children, young people, students, professionals and policymakers.

It seems there is no one, single reason why people change their mind about smacking and the toolkit is informed by a number of the most common reasons identified.  For example, some people realise that children have a right not to be hit, just as adults do, because children are people too. Many parents give up 'smacking' their child when they come to understand that hitting children is ineffective as a way of getting them to behave well.  This toolkit promises to be a valuable resource for anyone who wants to look at this issue in more detail in any context work or home.

The toolkit can be accessed at www.helpathandtoolkit.info and www.pecyncymorthhelpwrthlaw.info  from the 13 March and will be updated to keep abreast of changes to the law, and to incorporate new material.  A "Help at Hand Handbook" has also been published as a hard copy companion to introduce the toolkit.  The toolkit and the handbook are both bilingual, English and Welsh.

Jane Hutt, Minister for Children said: "I am very pleased to endorse this toolkit that I am confident will help to change attitudes and behaviour towards the physical punishment of children in Wales. 

The Assembly Government believes that children have the same right not to be hit as adults. We want to provide parents and carers with the support they need to manage their children's behaviour without resorting to physical punishment." 

Anne Crowley, Chair of the 'Sdim Curo Plant!/Children Are Unbeatable! Strategy Group said "This toolkit brings together, in an easy-to-use format, the best resources we have found to help raise awareness, inform, and educate a wide range of audiences.  The toolkit is informed by our collective experiences and evaluated practice. In our work with children, parents, carers, professionals, members of the public, policy makers and politicians, we have found that many people who support the right of parents or carers to hit or 'smack' their children do in fact change their minds when they have opportunity to consider the issues."

Notes

1.         The web based "Help at Hand Toolkit" can be accessed at www.helpathandtoolkit.info and www.pecyncymorthhelpwrthlaw.info   The "Help at Hand Handbook" can be obtained from 'Sdim Curo Plant!/Children Are Unbeatable! at Children in Wales, 25 Windsor Place, Cardiff, CF10 3BZ, Tel: 029 2034 2434, E-mail: cau@childreninwales.org.uk                          

2.         The Launch is taking place at the Senedd in Cardiff Bay on 13 March between 5.30 - 7.00.  Speakers will include Jane Hutt (Minister for Children) and it will be chaired by Greta Thomas, Director of the NSPCC in Wales.   There will also be an opportunity to meet with AMs, members of the 'Sdim Curo Plant!/Children Are Unbeatable! Steering Group and other supporters of the campaign.

3.         'Sdim Curo Plant!/Children Are Unbeatable! Campaign is hosted by Children in Wales the umbrella organisation for children's organisations in Wales.  'Sdim Curo Plant!/Children Are Unbeatable! aims to:

• To change the law so that children and young people have the same protection from being hit as adults;
• A public education campaign about why "smacking" children is not OK;
• For parents to have information and practical advice and support about alternatives to "smacking" and using a positive approach to bringing up children.

Contacts

For More information contact:

Lynne Hill, Policy Director, Children in Wales, 25 Windsor Place, Cardiff, CF10 3BZ, Tel: 029 2034 2434, Mobile: 07721 568090, E-mail: lynne.hill@childreninwales.org.uk