Is France about to be slapped on the wrist for its failure to ban smacking? On March 4th the Council of Europe, the continent’s human-rights body, is expected to reprimand the country for not outlawing the corporal punishment of children. Although attitudes to physical punishment have shifted over the years, there is no taboo in France today against a parent giving a child a firm slap in a public place. The ruling has prompted indignation as well mockery, exposing deep cultural differences over child-rearing.
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