Mother backs childminder who was allowed to smack: Woman struck off council register seeks to be reinstated

YOUNG children should be given corporal punishment for their own good, a mother told a court yesterday.

Anne Forman, 34, an office manager, told Sutton magistrates' court that her son Luke, aged four, was remarkably well- behaved after being looked after for three years by a childminder who smacked him.

Miss Forman, of Carshalton, south London, was giving evidence in support of her child- minder, Anne Davis, 33, who is fighting to be reinstated on the London Borough of Sutton's childminding register.

Mrs Davis, a trained teacher with two young daughters, was struck off in August after refusing to agree not to smack children she looked after in line with new guidance issued under the 1989 Children Act.

Miss Forman told the appeal hearing that she would not have used a childminder who did not smack because her son got smacked at home and she did not want him to get conflicting messages. 'Luke is now four and has been cared for by Mrs Davis since he was 15 months old. People always remark on how well behaved he is. I signed the contract immediately because I got a very good first impression of Mrs Davis. I could see how well her children behaved.'

Earlier Mrs Davis, of Sutton, south London, told the hearing she had discussed discipline with Miss Forman, who had agreed that Luke could be smacked. She had smacked him only once this year, and would always tell her when and why it had happened.

If a parent was adamant that smacking was unacceptable then she would ask them to go elsewhere, Mrs Davis said. 'A short, sharp smack is so much more efficient in some cases and much fairer to the child. It means the bad behaviour does not escalate.'

The court heard that the guidance document Mrs Davis refused to sign stated: 'Corporal punishment (smacking, slapping or shaking) should not be used.' But she believed that since the word 'should' rather than 'must' was used, she had some leeway.

Howard Shaw, for Mrs Davis, said: 'A guidance document is not a legal document but is being used as such by Sutton social services. It means parents' choice is being taken away.'

He cited a survey of 420 Sutton's registered childminders carried out by Mrs Davis after her dismissal. Of the 140 who replied, 81 per cent said an occasional smack was an effective disciplinary tool.

But Peter Elfer, a senior development officer from the National Children's Bureau, told the hearing he believed it was wrong to smack young children.

Mr Elfer, a father of six who admitted that he had smacked his own children, said he had 'never found it helpful'.

The hearing continues today.