Parents hitting their children will be illegal in Wales from Monday.
First Minister Mark Drakeford said it was a “historic” day for children as Wales became the second British nation to ban corporal punishment.
Wales scrapped the legal defense of reasonable punishment, meaning anyone who hits a child in their care could be arrested and prosecuted for assault.
Critics claim the new law was “enforced by those who think they know better than the parents”.
Jersey was the first part of the British Isles to ban smacking in April 2020, before Scotland became the first British nation to make it illegal in November 2020.
Sweden was the first country in the world to ban corporal punishment of children in 1979 and it is now illegal in 63 countries around the world.
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The Welsh Government said it was a “historic moment for children and their rights in Wales” and meant children would have the same rights as adults.
Ministers in Cardiff said they wanted to give children “the best start in life” and the new law means people commit a crime if they hit, hit, hit or shake a child in their care.
The Welsh Government said it was “not possible to give a fixed list of what constitutes corporal punishment” because “it could be anything where a child is being punished with physical violence”.
The new law applies to parents or anyone responsible for a child while the parents are away – and to all visitors to Wales.
Corporal punishment is already illegal in local government schools, children’s homes, nursing homes and child care facilities.
Hitting a child is a common attack, but if a parent or someone with parental responsibilities was charged with a joint attack on a child before Monday, they could have attempted to defend themselves with appropriate punishment.
But as of Monday that defense is no longer available in Wales, leaving anyone who corporally punishes a child is breaking the law and could face a criminal record.
People who see a child being physically punished have been advised by the Welsh Government to either call the police if a child is in imminent danger or to contact their local social services office.
Members of the Welsh Parliament voted 36 to 14 when the bill was passed two years ago.
The ban follows a campaign by children’s charities and politicians, and Wales’ Deputy Social Services Secretary Julie James said she was “thrilled” that children have the same protections from assault as adults.
Mr Drakeford added that “there is no place for corporal punishment in modern Wales” as he welcomed one of his flagship directives in the law.
“The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child makes it clear that children have the right to be protected from harm and from injury, and this includes corporal punishment,” he said.
“That right is now enshrined in Welsh law. No more gray areas. No more defense of appropriate punishment. That’s all in the past.”
Wales’ Children’s Ombudsman said children now have “a clear and unambiguous priority and protection”.
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“As adults, we don’t accept physical violence in any part of our lives,” said Sally Holland.
“And as a nation, we now realize that we don’t accept it in our children’s lives either.”
Plaid Cymru, which has a cooperation agreement with the Welsh Labor government, supported “equal protection of children from violence under the law”.
NSPCC Cymru said it supports “positive parenting,” while Barnardos Cymru said it was “confident that this legislation will drive cultural change in parenting.”
But members of the opposition group in the Welsh Parliament said they were “concerned” it could create a “Stasi culture” in Wales – referring to the old East German secret police.
“The smack ban is an unnecessary, unenforceable and unwanted piece of legislation that has been pushed through the Senedd by those who think they know better than their parents,” said Gareth Davies, Welsh Conservative spokesman for social services.
“I am very concerned about campaigns promoting a Stasi culture in Wales, where people – and children – are encouraged to shop at the police force for parents who discipline their children in a way they see fit.
“These guidelines go against the assurances ministers have given to the Welsh people and there are legitimate concerns that the police will come under further pressure if the new regime makes false claims and exploits busybodies.
“The Labor government in Cardiff Bay is clearly more interested in New Age dogma than respect for parents.”
Simon Calvert, of campaign group Be Reasonable, which opposes the ban, said it could “criminalize normal, decent, loving mothers and fathers for doing nothing other than what our loving mothers and fathers did to us”.
He added, “I think some families will suffer unjustly from this law and I think we will see increasing calls for a review of this law in the coming years.”
But one parenting blogger said it’s “not as simple as ‘the ban is right’ or the ‘ban is wrong'”.
Claire Campbell-Adams of the Mum’s Shoulders blog said it was “brilliant” that the ban “fills a loophole” in allowing offenders longer to plead their defense.
But she worries it could make it harder for parents who need support to open up.
“If you take the opportunity to sit and chat with your colleagues about it for fear of being prosecuted, how is that going to help anyone?” said Ms. Campbell-Adams of Newport.
She added that parents should be offered help and resources to understand how best to discipline their children.
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