CMAJ, UN, urge Canada to ban physical punishment.
by Jody Dallaire
The issue of spanking has been making news headlines in recent weeks.
Several newspapers have published op-eds on the issue since the Canadian Medical Association Journal’s September editorial saying that Section 43 of the Criminal Code condones spanking. The CMAJ rejects the idea that spanking is an okay way to discipline your children.
Section 43 of the Canadian Criminal Code (also known as the spanking law) says: “Every schoolteacher, parent or person standing in the place of a parent is justified in using force by way of correction toward a pupil or child, as the case may be, who is under his care, if the force does not exceed what is reasonable under the circumstances.”
Evidence, though, does not support the use of physical force as an effective way to parent children. On the contrary, studies show that physical punishment during childhood is associated increased levels of aggression, behavioral problems in adult life, including depression, unhappiness, anxiety, feelings of hopelessness, use of drugs and alcohol, and general psychological maladjustment.
Studies show that physical punishment during childhood is associated increased levels of aggression, behavioral problems in adult life.
Yet Letters to the Editor still argue otherwise. One recent letter said that the lack of spanking of children in families means that there is no discipline, and that lack of discipline can lead children into criminality.
Really! Personally I wonder what message we are conveying to our children by hitting them. Perhaps it is the message that violence is an acceptable way to resolve a situation. Perhaps it is that parents are people to be feared and children should hide things from their parents.
Don’t get me wrong, I believe in discipline, setting boundaries for acceptable behavior — just not by way of physical force. When a child does something wrong (and they know that their behavior is wrong) there should consequences for their actions — other than a physical punishment, of course.
However, the majority view still seems to accept hitting children as a way to correct their behaviour. An attitudinal Survey of New Brunswickers conducted in July 2009 by Harris Decima (on behalf of the Women’s Issues Branch of the Executive Council Office) found that 72 percent of New Brunswickers surveyed said it was not a crime to slap a six-year-old child on the face after she broke an object she was forbidden to touch.
And under the Criminal Code, unfortunately, they are right.
So if our goal is to raise well-adjusted and resilient children and adults, physical force is not the answer. The question is whether criminalizing spanking is the answer. I agree with John Fletcher, Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Medical Association Journal who wrote: “Parents need to be re-educated as to how to discipline their children. Simply discouraging physical punishment is not enough. Without alternatives, parents brought up with spanking may simply substitute shouting or some other form of punishment… It’s not just parents who need to change, though. The law needs to be changed too…”
The United Nation Committee on the Rights of the Child, which monitors the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, has consistently stated that Convention is not compatible with legal and social acceptance of punishing children physically, in the home and in institutions. Since 1993, the Committee has consistently recommended that nations prohibit physical punishment in the family and institutions, and that they mount education campaigns to encourage positive, non-violent child-rearing and schooling.
A couple of weeks ago, Canadian government officials were in Geneva Switzerland to present a report on how Canada is doing in meeting its treaty obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. the United Nation's Committee on the Rights of the Child raised strong concerns that Canada is still not banning parents from physical discipline. Canada’s legal system also provides loopholes for parents to defend spanking or slapping their children.
Sadly, as yet there is no public consensus on the physical punishment of children. That is why government action is important. It is time for the Canadian government to heed the advice of Canadian Medical Association and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and repeal Section 43 of the Canadian Criminal Code.
Lastly, remember — we can all play a role in promoting healthy and evidence-based child-rearing techniques. Society as a whole will benefit.
About Jody Dallaire
Jody Dallaire lives and works in Dieppe New Brunswick where she writes a weekly column on women's equality issues and matters of social justice.
Email: jody.dallaire@rogers.com.
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