Preventing physical punishment of children

Austria and Finland banned physical punishment in schools a hundred years ago. Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden have already passed laws forbidding all forms of physical punishment of children, whether in homes, schools, or juvenile correction institutions. At least six more countries are considering similar legislation – Canada, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Poland, and Switzerland. Governments that have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child are obliged to protect children from "all forms of physical or mental violence", such as smacking children.