Kevin Donnelly has been lauded and lambasted in equal measure for suggesting school communities should be allowed to decide whether ill-disciplined children be physically punished by teachers.

The government moved quickly to distance itself from the idea, and rightly so.

While there’s little doubt the threat of corporal punishment would be a powerful deterrent to wayward kids, parents – and courts – in 2014 would simply not accept it.

The issue of a parent’s right to smack their own child is far more nuanced.

To deny parents the right to smack kids is to deny parents the fundamental right to choose how they discipline their own children.

The overwhelming majority of mums and dads understand the line between child abuse and fair discipline, and for those that don’t, there are existing assault laws in place.

Comparing pro-spanking parents to criminals is the sort of PC hysteria that paralyses debate.

And to turn good parents into criminals because of the actions of a few would be a retrograde step for an already over-regulated society.

Of course, some will argue “good parenting” can never involve smacking because the act itself is never justifiable.

They claim violence begets violence and smacking a child somehow predisposes them to acting out violently themselves.

But this sort of ice-cream logic both underestimates the ability of children to rationalise and of parents to mete out punishment with a message.

We should encourage good parenting and most of the time, smacking a child is a last-resort option.

Smacking rates have decreased dramatically in recent decades and that is a good thing.

But children respond to “physical language” and there are times when a slap on the hand or swift smack on the bum is the best way to send an immediate message to a child.

Parenting is a stressful and complex business.

It’s also the most important job a human being can have – far too important to be subjected to this sort of new age nonsense.