Help at Hand - Summary of key findings

In May 2006 a week of events to promote alternatives to smacking was held in the Communities First area of Briton Ferry West, Neath Port Talbot. There was substantial preparation prior to the week’s activities and an evaluation report of this pilot initiative was commissioned by Children are Unbeatable Cymru and produced by Barnardos. This appendix offers a brief overview of the key findings of the report, which should be taken into account when planning any future public education campaigns for Wales.

Background

It was a labour intensive piece of work, with several organisations and agencies contributing to the preparation and delivery.

Substantial promotional activity took place prior to the week’s events, including the production and distribution of posters, articles in newsletters and several presentations to local groups.

There was a training session for local professionals run by CAU strategy group members.

A community survey was undertaken prior to the week’s events, to elicit the views of local people on the subject of smacking children (The plan was to undertake a survey after the events to ascertain any changes in attitudes. However, the researchers did not consider this to be appropriate, due to the low level of engagement within the community during the week’s activities.)

There was a high profile launch - attended by Minister for Children, Jane Hutt AM, and the Children’s Commissioner’s Office

The week’s activities included:

Drop-ins for parents
Input into existing parenting groups
Sessions in schools to engage with children and young people
Parenting taster sessions

Key Findings:

14% of the community surveys were returned, giving a sample of 170 respondents. Of these:

75% thought that smacking children does not stop them being naughty
85% thought that you can stop children from being naughty without smacking them
nearly 80% thought it should be against the law to hit children in the same way that it is against the law to hit adults
51% thought that parents have the right to smack their child.

The apparent contradiction in these figures suggested that "hitting” and "smacking” are viewed as separate actions, as many respondents considered it acceptable to "smack” children, but not "hit” them. This will undoubtedly be a challenge when attempting to convey a simple message in any public education campaign.

There was a lack of engagement with the local community during the "Help at Hand” week, with drop-in sessions attended by only 3 parents (although two had driven across the county in desperation to get some advice) and attendance low at the launch. The suggestion was that people need a long time to get used to something and that effective engagement needs to be of a "slow burn” nature, integrated into local services and activities. The researchers believe that the campaign and week’s events failed to engage local parents for two main reasons:

Some parents suggested that the publicity material was difficult to interpret. They weren’t exactly clear what the message was.
Parents need a lot of information and a period of time over which to become familiar with a new service. They need to build up trust with professionals. (Local schools were hesitant to become involved, because of the possible reaction of parents)

Throughout the week the researchers spoke to 39 parents, in a range of diverse circumstances, and concluded that there was not sufficient evidence from this particular initiative to "meaningfully evaluate effective ways of changing attitudes across a specific community”. However, some important messages emerged:

There was an overwhelming consensus amongst parents interviewed that smacking does not work. Yet the discussions at the presentation sessions prior to the week’s events highlighted the views held among many people that it was acceptable and "never did me any harm”.
The "no smacking” message needs to be part of a larger message around the benefits of positive parenting.
There needs to be universal support for parents who wish to adopt alternative methods to smacking - before they reach crisis point. Parents suggested that schools and health visitors were key here and should be trained in this area.
Promoting alternatives to smacking must be an integral part of the daily practice of all professional who come into contact with parents.
Parents were very clear that it is difficult to access the right information and support, especially when a child is over five and/or have special needs.
It is not just mothers who need help - it is fathers too.
It would be more effective to integrate the message and support into existing provision, rather than expecting parents to attend specially provided sessions.
Many parents were aware of alternatives to smacking from "television programmes”
Terms such as "parenting courses” can make parents feel stigmatised.
Many parents said they would not use a telephone advice line, because the person would be "unknown”.
There was a consensus that booklets either give too much or two little information to be of practical use.
Parents suggested that schools and health centres were good places to display materials. Also, schools would be a good place to run course/sessions, so that all parents could just turn up if they wanted.
A pilot CAU lesson was delivered to a group of 16 young people. 15 of them had not heard about the UNCRC before the lesson.