Absolutley ridiculous, child cruelty is one thing and totally unacceptable, smacking your children for discipline is a parents decision, they have to live with themselves. Ban smacking and years down the line we will be faced with another increases in thugs on the street with no respect for adults.

Kevin Rough, Portsmouth, UK

So the powers that be wish us to take responsibility for our childrens behaviour & at the same time remove any sanction that can be applied if they misbehave.
Yet again the government want to give them the power whilst we keep the responsibility. I hope this ridiculous bill is quashed.

Simon Morris, Lichfield, UK

And we wonder why we have so much violent crime being committed by young children. No respect for the law, no respect for teachers, and no respect for parents. If the bleeding heart liberals get their way the Britain will deserve everything it gets!

Sharkie, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

My father did not need to hit us in order to discipline us. We knew he was in charge and while mum was our favourite it is dad who we can thank for our self-discipline.

You don't need to hit your child, you just need to stop trying to be their best friend, and start being a parent.

Mark, London,

Where is the line drawn? Occasionally you have to grab a child to stop them from causing harm to themselves - if this is deemed to be done 'too aggressively' - does that make the parent an abuser? It is all about the perception of the onlooker and not the real business of parenting.

Claire, Solihull, UK

Bringing in laws to protect children against physically abusive parents will only serve to make the job of good parents harder. MPs should stick to the job WE are paying them to do as public servants, not interfere in their usual nannying way.

jim reeder, stockport, UK

Hitting is definitely the wrong aproach in disciplining children. Considering corporal punishment was only outlawed in schools in the 1980s which horrifies my French counterparts where it was banned a considerable time before.Hitting only leaves mental scars ,anger more rebellion etc for a long time

adrian, marseille, france

As a child I feared a smack far less than other punishments - being kept in from play, losing a treat etc. It hurt for a few minutes and was a bit shaming but was over quickly and did not interfere with my life.

Chelsea, London, UK

Children need clear boundaries, sometimes for their own safety. Smacking can be an appropriate part of a caring and loving approach to parenting. Shame MP's are not so hot on protecting the rights of children before they are born... abortion is surely worse than smacking?

Simon, London, UK

my children are 18mths and 21/2 yrs and i have to smack them if they do something that could cause harm or be dangerous to one or both of them. My son came into the kitchen while i was making dinner and grabbed hold of a sharp knife. I smacked his hand and he got the message. he wont do it again.

Gary Crawford, paisley,

When are you going to ban circumcision?

maarten, Brighton,

A smart smack on the bottom is a universally understood language. To a child, it relates a repeated action of disobedience to a reaction of painful retribution. I could not agree more with Beth, London that sometimes 'Conversation' is simply ineffective.

John, Tenbury Wells., UK

What is all of this "allow them to vote on their conscience" business and why is it being tolerated? I was under the impression that MPs should vote in representation of their constituents? Anything else is a gross misuse of the power that has been given to them by the people they're ignoring.

Matthew, Stockport, UK

Legislation will not prevent those parents that take disipline too far from continuing to do so, it will only penalise the majority that believe more than ever that disipline is one of the most important factors when raising a child.

Stephen Kerr-Morgan, Spalding, UK

There's a world of difference between controlled discipline and hitting out in anger or frustration. There are times when you just can't reason with a 3 yo boy, you can't get into a 'conversation' about the rights and wrongs on continually drawing on the walls.

Beth, London, UK