The UN report continued, advocating that the government launch a tax-funded propaganda campaign against corporal punishment and parents who choose to use it in disciplining their children, highlighting the alleged "harmful effects." A broad list of other demands — more abortion, more UN agreements, and more censorship, among others — was also provided by the UN's "human rights" bureaucracy in its report on the United Kingdom.

It was not the first time that UN bureaucrats have claimed that spanking, smacking, and all forms of corporal punishment must be banned worldwide in favor of UN-approved parenting strategies, and it certainly will not be the last. In fact, a similar UN "human rights" report about the United States released last year called on the U.S. government to ignore the Constitution's limits on federal power and pass legislation banning all corporal punishment of children across America — including mild spankings by parents in the home used as a disciplinary tool. Schools that use corporal punishment are also in the UN's crosshairs.

Of course, the latest controversial anti-smacking "recommendations" aimed at the United Kingdom were met with widespread ridicule and derision. Even the rabidly pro-UN government in London distanced itself from the outlandish demands. "Our policy on smacking is clear," a spokesperson for the U.K. government was quoted as saying in media reports. "We do not condone violence towards children. However, we do not wish to criminalize parents for issuing a mild smack." High-profile commentators joked about "the UN on smack." Still, analysts said the UN was very serious in its efforts to criminalize traditional parenting while further usurping parental rights — and that this is just the beginning.