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ENDING CORPORAL AND OTHER FORMS OF HUMILIATING PUNISHMENT OF CHILDREN 02 November 2008 1 BIBLICAL The Bible gives parents the right and duty to physically punish their children. However, the Bible subsequently records the negative effect that this parenting style had on his son. Rehoboam became a widely hated ruler after his father's death. At one point, he had to make a hasty retreat to Jerusalem to avoid being assassinated by his own people . Spare the rod and spoil the child. What does appear, among others, is: Those who rely on ancient texts to justify corporal punishment should remember that, in the Hebrew, there are three different words that are translated into English as “rod” and the one used in the often quoted Proverbs text is “Shebet”. The Shebet was the large walking staff held by the head of a family, the king’s sceptre, or the shepherd’s crook which was used to rescue and guide sheep. Guidance was given by the kind and responsible shepherd whose rod was used to guide and protect his sheep, not to beat them. A version of the Shebet is carried by bishops to this day – as a symbol of guiding, not beating their people. It should be remembered that the “rod” referred to in Psalm 23 comforts people. The term “physical correction” is a term often used by parents and others who believe it to be their Biblical duty to punish their children by using corporal punishment. “Correction” is from the Hebrew word “muwcar” and means “chastening” or “come let us reason together”. Reasoning together has nothing to do with physically striking a child. There is no mandate from God to beat children. Within the entire Law or Torah, where God outlined what he required of his people, there is no instruction to beat children. For an issue proclaimed as so important, there is no instruction within scripture of how or when to beat or even who to beat. Christians look to the example of Jesus for the way to live their lives. Jesus was a teacher and a Rabbi and an expert in interpreting the scriptures. There is no evidence to suggest that he cited the scriptures to justify hitting children. All the recorded encounters between Jesus and children were kind, gentle and respectful and his reported words about causing children to stumble, and the consequences for doing so (Matthew 18:6), are amongst the strongest in the New Testament. Jesus tells us that the kingdom of God is like a little child, and whatsoever we do to the least of these we do to him. That clearly rules out physical punishment and humiliating treatment of children. 2 RIGHTS My rights as a parent to bring up my children as I see fit / to religious freedom / to cultural expression are being violated. The rights of all human beings, including children, should be protected by law. Everyone has the right not to be hurt, and no one has the right, in exercising their own rights, to hurt anyone else. In general, the rights are not absolute, and provision is made for the limitation of rights which provides criteria for the limitation of rights and guidance on decision-making in this regard. Clearly, the rights of children and others to practice their cultural traditions and participate in the cultural life of their communities need to be balanced against the rights to protection, bodily integrity and equality. However, children’s right to be protected from maltreatment, neglect, abuse or degradation should be none-negotiable. In addition, children are more vulnerable than adults: they are smaller in stature, and their developing bones and skeleton are soft and more easily damaged. In the past slave owners said it was their right to beat their slaves; police and courts said it was their right to beat prisoners; and husbands have said it is their right to beat their wives. The fact that parents say that it is their right to beat their children must be challenged. It is highly concerning that children, who are physically and psychologically the most vulnerable members of our society, are last in line to receive protection of this fundamental human right. 3 THE “EXAMPLE” SET BY OTHER COUNTRIES We are not ready to ban corporal punishment – it’s a first-world notion. The use of physical punishment as a method of maintaining control was introduced into African states through colonialism. It was entrenched in some African countries laws during the colonial era and was deliberately used to strengthen the system. We don’t want to end up like the UK or US or other developed countries who have banned spanking – look how undisciplined and violent their children are. In the UK, they are thinking of bringing back corporal punishment. Neither the US nor the UK has banned physical punishment in the home. Corporal punishment of children is banned in New Zealand (2007), the Netherlands (2007), Greece (2006), Hungary (2004), Romania (2004), Ukraine (2004), Iceland (2003), Bulgaria (2000), Germany (2000), Israel (2000), Croatia (1998), Latvia (1998), Denmark (1997), Cyprus (1994), Austria (1989), Norway (1987), Costa Rica (2008), Spain (2007), Venezuela (2007), Uruguay (2007), Finland (1983), and Sweden (1979). In addition, corporal punishment of children by their parents is considered unlawful in Belgium and Italy, although it is not yet expressly banned. None of the countries listed here could be described as excessively violent, as having high rates of violent crime, or as having citizens who are undisciplined and out of control. Although corporal punishment is legally prohibited in some African countries, it is still used in many schools. 4 CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IS NOT NECESSARILY ABUSE There is a big difference between loving correction / reasonable corporal punishment and child abuse. In some cases, hitting the child may stop the behaviour immediately; but it does not necessarily stop children from doing the same thing in the future. This is because they are less likely to learn from this punishment and more likely to resist the parent and to find ways to avoid getting caught in future. This is why some children are “always in trouble” and repeatedly given hidings. Corporal and humiliating punishment allows the parent to express their frustration and anger but it does not teach the child about the logical consequences of their behaviour. It results in fear, resentment and a breakdown of the relationship of trust with the parent. We cannot hit adults just because we don’t like what they are doing, so why can we do this to our children? Children who have been humiliated and hit are more likely to humiliate and hit other children. They are more likely to engage in violence themselves when they grow up, or are more likely to be physically, emotionally and sexually abused in adult relationships. These forms of punishment cause physical and psychological harm to the child; they undermine the child’s self confidence and self esteem, leaving them feeling helpless and humiliated. Because corporal punishment is generally ineffective in teaching self-discipline and responsibility, it tends to escalate over time. Small slaps become more serious hidings and so on. Parents charged with assault often say that they were disciplining their children. Many of the beatings that children suffer at the hands of adults would be considered completely unacceptable if committed against an adult. Child welfare organisations estimate that 80 to 90% of physical abuse cases are committed in the name of corporal punishment. Trying to define “acceptable” levels of violence is an exercise that will be impossible to control, and continue to make children vulnerable to physical and psychological harm. 5 LEGAL PROCESSES Children will be able to run to the police for every little slap. We will clog up the courts with children who do not need the court’s attention, and children who are really being abused will slip through the cracks Even children who are seriously assaulted do not report this to the police, and it is very unlikely that will change, especially regarding minor assault. The focus of law reforms should be on prevention and early intervention to protect children, and not on prosecuting parents unless the assault is particularly violent. Prosecution of parents is seldom in the best interest of the child it is important for systems to be available for the family to receive support, diversion to parenting programmes can be used to achieve this. The law must not get involved in the family sphere Where the potential for harm to any citizen is in the family/home sphere, it is necessary for the law to get involved. The laws against sexual offences and domestic violence for example are largely concerned with protecting people in the family/home setting. 6 CULTURE Corporal punishment is part of my culture. Children are hit in the name of discipline in every corner of the world, and no culture has the right to claim it as its own. Africans themselves have questioned the idea that corporal punishment is part of African culture. For example, Jean-Baptise Zoungrana, Chairperson, African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of Children said: “…not much has been done to end corporal punishment administered to children by their families, in their homes, where violence seems to be culturally accepted. In fact, thousands of homes have become real laboratories of violence against children and the media have reported many cases. That is unacceptable.” Mrs Zyneb Jammeh, First Lady in The Gambia said: “Discipline, without doubt, is quite cardinal in raising children. Nevertheless, policy makers and parents should all make sure that the enforcement of disciplinary values does not marginalize or brush aside the rights of the child. Similarly, violence against children has no place in society and should not be entertained. Violence would only make children become social misfits and a menace to society and its development”. 7 IT’S NECESSARY – CHILDREN NEED TO LEARN Children don’t learn anything unless you hit them. Children learn the wrong things when we hit them. They learn that people who are bigger and stronger can hurt those who are smaller and weaker, and that the way to sort out problems and differences is to hit someone. They learn to avoid getting caught doing the “wrong” things when the person doing the hitting can see or find out about it. They do not learn to not do the wrong things in the first place. It seems that, instead of being a deterrent, corporal punishment provides an example for children. Corporal punishment also creates resentment and anger in many children, which further increases the probability of violence (Murray Strauss, 1999). I was hit as a child and today, I am a better person for it / I turned out okay You don’t really know whether being hit as a child has harmed you or not; maybe you would have turned out better without being hit. And we do know that children who are subject to strict discipline grow up to be more violent and less tolerant than those who are not. And there are some arguments against it If we want to address the high levels of violence in our society, we need to stop teaching children that it is OK for bigger and stronger people to hurt smaller and more vulnerable people. It is especially important to teach children that it is NOT OK to hurt someone else just because we don’t like what they are doing. There is a wealth of evidence that living with violence teaches children to be violent. They are indeed some undisciplined and violent societies with child rape, family violence, rape homicide, intimate femicide, family murder and community violence very high among these societies. If this situation has to be addressed and look to a time when our societies experience less violence, then there is need to look at the context in which children are raised, and what children are taught as we raise them. Spanking children is NOT the only way to teach them good behaviour and discipline . Studies into the effects of spanking and corporal punishment over the last fifty years have shown that spanking does sometimes work in the short-term. However, this research also shows that non-violent methods of discipline work just as well. So there is no need to use corporal punishment. But what about the long-term effects? Studies conducted prior to 1997 provided evidence suggesting, but not proving, that children also learn violence and other antisocial behaviour when they are spanked. However, 1997 marked a turning point in research on spanking. Since 1997 five studies in particular have used the amount of misbehaviour that led to the corporal punishment as the baseline. These studies then re-examined children after a year, two years, or five years to determine if things had stayed the same, changed for the better, or gotten worse. All the pieces of research found that, on average, the behaviour of the children of parents who spanked got worse. Of course some spanked children improved and some whose parents used other modes of discipline got worse. But on the average, spanking boomeranged bad behaviour. These studies are especially important because all were based on large and representative samples of families, and all took into account many other factors that affect the behaviour of children, such as the education level of the parents, and whether the parents were also emotionally warm and supportive. There are other, more effective, things that we can do to teach children discipline Corporal punishment and discipline are not the same thing. If what we want is disciplined children (and adults!!), we are not getting it right – we only have to look at our high levels of violence and high-level corruption to realise this. According to Gershoff , promoting the development of children’s internal controls (self-discipline) is more important to long-term socialisation and behaviour than immediate compliance. She says that “moral internalization” is the taking over the values and attitudes of society as one’s own so that socially acceptable behaviour is motivated not by anticipation of external consequences but by intrinsic or internal factors. Children’s internalisation of morals is enhanced by parental discipline strategies that use minimal parental power, promote choice and autonomy, and provide explanations for desirable behaviours – in other words, by parenting and discipline which is not about might and hurting children. Violence begets violence and a whole host of other problems . There is a strong association between corporal punishment and children’s aggression, their mental health, and their anti-social behaviour as children and as adults. In her very thorough and landmark study, Gershoff found that parental corporal punishment is associated with the following undesirable behaviours and experiences: Corporal punishment was associated with only one desirable behaviour, namely, increased immediate compliance
Debate on corporal punishment
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Corporal punishment is strongly recommended in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). Most of the biblical quotations advocating corporal punishment of children appear in the book of Proverbs . Christians interpret these passages in different ways. Religious conservatives generally believe that the book of Proverbs was assembled by King Solomon, circa 1000 BCE. He brought together a group of sayings which were already current in his time; some may have been his own thoughts; others may have been first written down centuries earlier. The passages which deal with spanking presumably reflect his parenting beliefs with respect to his son, Rehoboam.
This phrase is often incorrectly attributed to the Christian Bible. It does not appear there. It was first written in a poem by Samuel Butler in 1664. (Holly Rossi, "Sparing the Rod," Beliefnet.com, 2005-FEB, at: http://www.beliefnet.com/)
Prov 13:24: "He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes (diligently)" … and Prov 22:15: "Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him."
• decreased moral internalization,
• increased child aggression,
• increased child delinquent and antisocial behaviour,
• decreased quality of relationship between parent and child,
• decreased child mental health,
• increased risk of being a victim of physical abuse,
• increased adult aggression,
• increased adult criminality and antisocial behaviour,
• decreased adult mental health,
• increased risk of abusing own child or spouse.