Children’s doctors have put lawmakers on the naughty step – and demanded an end to smacking in the UK.

While adults are protected from physical violence by law, the same doesn’t apply to children in England and Northern Ireland. In these countries, parents are allowed to say that smacking is a “reasonable punishment” in certain circumstances.

But the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) has released a report explaining why smacking children should be against the law.

The bottom line, it says, is that if children are hit, they’re more than twice as likely to experience mental health problems. It also impacts their social wellbeing and their engagement (participation) at school.

The report also argues that, if a child is hit, it could lead them to believe that physical violence is okay, so they could grow up to be violent themselves.

Smacking isn’t allowed across the entire UK – Scotland and Wales are among 65 countries around the world that have banned it.