Edinburgh - The debate about parents smacking children was reopened in a Scottish court yesterday, with the conviction of a teacher who hit his daughter during a visit to the dentist, writes Douglas Fraser.
There were calls for changes to the law, to clarify what reasonable chastisement is allowed. But the man, who has been suspended from primary classroom work and was told by police not to visit his home for two weeks over Christmas and New Year, now faces sentencing by the sheriff on June 9th and dismissal from his job.
The man, aged 48, whose identity cannot be revealed to avoid identifying his eight-year old daughter, admitted hitting her on Christmas Eve last year, when she refused to have a sore tooth taken out.