Canadian Court: Spanking Kids OK
CBS News, U.S. Associated Press, Jan. 30, 2004
OTTAWA-Government lawyers said parents need some leeway in raising their children and should not be threatened with criminal charges unless discipline crosses the line to abuse.
(AP) Canadian parents and teachers can still spank naughty children, the country's highest court ruled Friday.
In a 6-3 judgment, Canada's Supreme Court rejected claims that a so-called spanking law, first enacted more than a century ago, should be struck down as a violation of children's rights.
Friday's ruling offered guidance, however, to help lower-court judges draw the line between acceptable force and abuse.
The court indicated, for example, that it would not be reasonable to use corporal punishment for children under age two or for teenagers. Nor would it be reasonable to use implements like rulers or belts, or to strike a child on the face or head.
The general rule, set out by Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, is that corporal punishment should be legally acceptable but must involve only "minor corrective force of a transitory and trifling nature."
At issue was a section of federal law that has been on the books in one form or other since 1892. It said parents, teachers and other caregivers cannot be found guilty of assault for physically correcting a child " as long as the force used is "reasonable in the circumstances."
The law was challenged by the Canadian Foundation for Children, Youth and the Law, a Toronto-based children's advocacy group.
The foundation denounced the section as discriminatory, an infringement of children's rights and a legal endorsement of cruel and unusual punishment.
Joining in the anti-spanking campaign were the Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies, the Child Welfare League of Canada and other children's rights groups.
The federal Justice Department defended the law but argued it should be read as allowing only "mild to moderate" force.
Government lawyers said parents need some leeway in raising their children and should not be threatened with criminal charges unless discipline crosses the line to abuse.
Backing the federal position were the Coalition for Family Autonomy, a collection of conservative lobby groups, and the Canadian Teachers Federation.
The teachers said they didn't favor corporal punishment, but feared that if the law was overturned they could face charges for physically restraining an unruly student.
The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Don't Spank - Canadian Paediatric Society
Effective discipline for children
Reaffirmed: February 1, 2014
Principal author(s)
P Nieman, S Shea; Canadian Paediatric Society, Community Paediatrics Committee
Paediatric Child Health 2004;9(1):37-41
The word discipline means to impart knowledge and skill - to teach. However, it is often equated with punishment and control. There is a great deal of controversy about the appropriate ways to discipline children, and parents are often confused about effective ways to set limits and instill self-control in their child.
In medical and secular literature, there is great diversity of opinion about the short-term and long-term effects of various disciplinary methods, especially the use of disciplinary spanking. This statement reviews the issues concerning childhood discipline and offers practical guidelines for physicians to use in counselling parents about effective discipline.
The Canadian Paediatric Society recommends that physicians take an anticipatory approach to discipline, including asking questions about techniques used in the home. Physicians should actively counsel parents about discipline and should strongly discourage the use of spanking.
Spanking May Lead to Aggression Later in Life
ABC TV, USA
07 February, 2012
Physical punishment of children, such as spanking, is increasingly linked with long-term adverse consequences, researchers wrote.
An analysis of research conducted since the 1990 adoption of the UN's Convention on the Rights of the Child suggests that no studies have found positive consequences of physical punishment, according to Joan Durrant of the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, and Ron Ensom of the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa.
While some studies have found little effect either way, most research has uncovered a range of negative outcomes, including increased aggression and later delinquency, Durrant and Ensom wrote online in CMAJ.
The clinical implication, they suggested, is that doctors who are familiar with the research can help parents find more constructive ways of providing discipline.
"In doing so, physicians strengthen child well-being and parent-child relationships at the population level," they wrote.
They noted that as recently as 1992, physical punishment of children was widely accepted, thought of as distinct from abuse, and considered "appropriate" as a way of eliciting desired behavior.
But research under way at that time was beginning to draw links between physical punishment and aggression in childhood, later delinquency, and spousal assault.
Alyson Schafer on Spanking and Corporal Punishment of Children
Alyson Schafer is a psychotherapist and one of Canada's leading parenting experts. She's the author of the best-selling "Breaking the Good Mom Myth" (Wiley, 2006) and host of TV's The Parenting Show a live call-in show in Toronto, Ontario.
The media relies on Alyson's comments and opinions. you can find her interviewed and quoted extensively in such publications as Cosmopolitan, Readers' Digest, Canadian Living, Today's Parents, and Canadian Families.
You can read Alyson's thoughts.
Parenting style can change child behaviour
CTV.ca News Staff, February 21, 2005
Parents who are punitive tend to have aggressive children. But a new survey suggests that when parenting practices change, a child's behaviour also changes.
The results of the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) suggests children show higher levels of aggression, are more anxious and less altruistic when parents have a more punitive parenting style.
Health Canada
What's Wrong with Spanking
Other countries don't allow assaults on children
Like Britain, countries such as Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Austria had a defence to assaults on children similar to our s. 43. These defences were removed between 1957 and 1977. The criminal law of these countries therefore gives children the same protection from assault as it gives adults. Beginning with Sweden in 1979, these countries also amended their civil child welfare laws to expressly prohibit corporal punishment so that the public fully understood it was illegal.
Public Health
October-December 2006
Spanking: It hurts more than you think
Spanking hurts more than you think is an early child development public education campaign that includes TV ads to remind parents that spanking is hitting and never a positive way to discipline your child.
Parenting is very rewarding, but nobody ever said it was easy. There are ups and downs, and both you and your child will make mistakes along the way. That's okay. You're not alone.
One of the major challenges you might face is discipline. When your child's behaviour pushes you to the edge, how do you handle it? Do you see spanking as a solution?
Read about: The problem with spanking
Reasons not to spank
Why discipline works. Use discipline to encourage good behaviour
Use discipline when your child misbehaves
Remember
Making it work Brochure, Posters "Take 1" Information Sheet Media Links for
more parenting information
website link
click here
Committee to Repeal Section 43 of the Criminal Code of Canada Which Allows Hitting Children to "Correct" Them
The Repeal 43 Committee is a national, voluntary committee of lawyers, paediatricians, social workers and educators formed in 1994 to advocate repeal of section 43 of the Criminal Code of Canada.
It is an offence under our Criminal Code to use force against anyone without their consent. This right to personal security is the most fundamental of all human rights. It is a protection against assault that all adults take for granted.
Children do not have the full benefit of this protection because section 43 of the Criminal Code justifies hitting children for disciplinary or "correction" reasons. This violates a child's right to the equal protection and benefit of the law guaranteed by our Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
It contravenes the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. It violates a child's dignity and shows a lack of respect. It can lead to serious physical and emotional harm.
Over 400 organizations from across Canada that deal with children are against corporal punishment www.Repeal43.org