Background to the Research

• In 2003, the NSPCC commissioned RES to carry out a survey of public opinion in NI on a range of child protection issues.
• The survey examined a range of issues including: awareness of child protection material; support for parents; perceived safety of children attending organisations; and views on physical punishment.
  

Research Approach

• The survey was conducted by telephone amongst a random sample of the NI adult population aged 18+. Fieldwork for the survey was carried out between 27 March 2003 and 13 May 2003.
• The achieved sample was 1,000 respondents from across all 26 Local Government Districts in NI.
• Tthe selection of respondents was controlled on a quota basis by gender and age group. The quota controls were derived from the adult population figures from the 2001 Census of NI.
• The questionnaire used in the survey was designed by the NSPCC in collaboration with RES and piloted with 4 members of NSPCC staff.
• The questionnaire focused on awareness of child protection material, advice and support available to parents, children attending sporting and uniformed organisations and physical punishment.
  

Main Findings

Awareness of Child Protection Material

• Half of the NI population recalls seeing child protection material in the past 12 months, mostly in the form of TV adverts and leaflets. Four out of five rated this as effective.

Advice and Support for Parents

• Four out of five parents report not receiving advice regarding the dangers of shaking babies.
• One in ten parents do not find support to new parents useful.

Concerns Over Children Attending Organisations

• Four in ten parents expressed some degree of worry about their children attending sporting organisations while 3 in 10 expressed some degree of worry in relation to uniformed organisations.
• Only 12% of parents have ever asked an organisation about their child protection policies and procedures.
• Three in five parents think that organisations could do more to protect children with a third of these parents advocating increased vetting.
• Three quarters of parents thought that the 'kite-marking' of organisations would help the situation while a further 3 out of 5 thought this would help to alleviate their anxiety.

Views on Physical Discipline

• While two thirds of people in NI do not think it is ever justified to hit a child aged 0-2 years, one third think that physical punishment may be either necessary on some occasions or routinely necessary.
• People are much more likely to think it may be necessary to hit children aged 3-10 years than children either below or above this age group.
• Three in ten people in NI would support a ban to outlaw the smacking of children. While 70% of respondents do not wish to see a change in the law, 75% indicated that they would support some sort of legislative change banning the hitting of children with implements.

Recommendations

• There should be greater public education in relation to the physical punishment of very young babies and the associated dangers.
• Parents need assistance with, and information on, alternative forms of age appropriate discipline for children aged 0-2 years, in particular the dangers of hitting and smacking children of this age.
• Promotion of positive parenting programs and alternative forms of discipline for the parents of children in the 3-10 year age range.
• These findings show that while public support for a complete ban is still some way off, there may be some merit in focusing attention on achieving legislative change with regard to the smacking of children with implements, as has been the case in Scotland. Dissemination of these findings to legislators and policy makers will be a key aspect of informing the debate on this issue.
• Future research should repeat the questions asked in this survey to act as a means of measuring changes in public opinion on this issue.