Children’s Advocate Diahann Gordon Harrison is supporting the Prime Ministers call for a ban on corporal punishment in homes and schools.

The Prime Minister made the comment while speaking in parliament on Tuesday.

Mrs. Gordon Harrison says the Office of the Children’s Advocate (OCA) stance on the issue is that there is no need to use violence to correct children.

She says children should be made to recognize the consequences of mal-adaptive behaviour.

The Children’s Advocate says there needs to be an examination of evidence, so that Jamaicans can have a factual discussion on the matter, as opposed to an emotional one.

She says the debate on corporal punishment needs to be an honest one, on the pros and cons of disciplining options.

She also says Jamaicans need to look at the links to long term effects of corporal punishment, to include violent behaviour in adulthood.