A High Court judge has rejected a call from a Christian school in Liverpool to review the government's refusal to sanction corporal punishment.

The private Christian Fellowship School in Liverpool wants to be able to smack pupils with parental consent. The government's stance contradicts a 1999 European Court of Human Rights ruling which said that nothing prevents teachers in schools smacking children if their parents consent.

Forum Response: The Children's Society

A spokesman for the Children's Society told ePolitix.com: "We believe that every child should have the same right to protection from assault as any adult. The statutory defence of 'reasonable chastisement' sends out a message that there are legitimate excuses for a parent to assault a child.

"We believe it should be repealed. For this reason we welcome the Scottish executive's proposal to ban the smacking of children under three years old and to make it illegal to hit children of any age on the head. We believe it is a lead that should be followed by the Westminster parliament.

"Historically it has been culturally expected in the UK that parents discipline children using physical means, even though many parents tell us how ineffective this practice is. The Scottish proposal is a sign of a momentum of cultural change in the parenting world that also reflects messages coming from the European Court of Human Rights.

"The clear challenge for government and child care professionals is to ensure that we support parents in finding developmentally appropriate, effective ways of creating firm and secure boundaries for behaviour

"We understand that a majority of parents in the governments consultation were worried by the prospect of a ban on smacking. In the UK, 88 per cent of the populace (Department of Health's National Statistics Omnibus Survey 1998) considered it sometimes necessary to smack a 'naughty' child. Sweden recorded similar attitudes in 1979, when corporal punishment was legally banned there.

"However research in Sweden has shown major attitudinal changes to corporal punishment and a real decline in actual usage as a form of discipline. Surveys of mothers in Sweden in the 1950s and 1960s found that 90 per cent had used physical punishment on their pre-school children, whereas in 1994, only 33 per cent of 13-15 years reported having physical punishment as a young child and then usually only in the mildest form."

Forum Response: Association of Teachers and Lecturers

Peter Smith, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, told ePolitix.com: "While we respect the rights of parents' to discipline their children, we are relieved that the court has not supported the reintroduction of corporal punishment to Britain's schools."There is widespread concern over the deteriorating behaviour of pupils in schools. We know that this is driving teachers out of the profession and making the job of teaching unmanageable. But we do not see how violent punishment, even in the form of a smack, would reduce the amount of aggression in schools. A violent response by an authority figure merely serves to validate the child's own violence and teaches children that violence works."Who would protect teachers against accusations of excessive use of violence? All across the public sector, whether in the police force, or the NHS, highlighted recently in the debate on violent patients in Accident and Emergency, the question of using force is never straightforward. There is a danger that public servants who use force in a responsible way could end up in court facing prosecution."As we know from teachers' bitter experience, when teachers are accused of assaults by children, the law is such that the child is always believed. Too many teachers have had their careers and lives ruined by false accusations."

Forum Response: Professional Association of Teachers

Jean Gemmell, general secretary of the Professional Association of Teachers, told ePolitix.com: "PAT is opposed to corporal punishment. I believe that for one person to inflict corporal punishment on another is demeaning for both parties."

"Schools cannot advocate non-violence while actually using violence. Learning self-control and discipline is not a soft option for the pupil. To be smacked is often an easy way out for both parties and does nothing for the future."