“Taking care of children is the responsibility of the whole community,” she said. She added that another 56 States had signalled their commitment to achieve a complete legal ban. Corporal punishment of children by parents is legal to some extent in the fifty United States and is expressly legal under the laws of all 50 states. Social acceptance is generally high, as laws in most states allow for “moderate physical discipline” (using this or similar language) regarding assault, criminal violence, domestic violence, or child abuse. Whether a corporal punishment case exceeds these limits is usually decided on a case-by-case basis in family court proceedings. In Northern Ireland, corporal punishment laws are similar to those in England. It is illegal to hit a child on the head or use a tool. It is important to recognize that there are still strong views that support corporal punishment in the home and oppose a state ban, particularly among certain religions and cultural groups. This is still the case in England, where the tabloid press tends to defend parents for using physical methods and attacks the “nanny state” that seeks to disrupt long-sacred methods of discipline. Resistance to laws is particularly strong in African countries. Worldwide, nearly 300 million children aged 2 to 4 receive some form of physical discipline from their parents or caregivers, according to a UNICEF report released in November.
In South Korea, Article 915 of the 1958 Civil Code granted adults the “right to take disciplinary action” until 2021. Anti-violence and abuse laws have generally not been interpreted as prohibiting corporal punishment of children. [67] In January 2021, Article 915 was completely repealed and South Korea became the 62nd country in the world to ban all forms of corporal punishment of children. [68] [69] A YouGov poll for the NSPCC on March 21, the day Wales officially banned spanking, found that attitudes towards spanking were also changing in England. Of the nearly 3,000 adults surveyed, 68% said a child`s physical discipline was unacceptable and 64% supported a ban on spanking in England. According to the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children, 63 States around the world have made it illegal to beat children in any environment, including the home. Corporal punishment is illegal in schools in 135 countries. Their meta-analyses found no evidence that spanking was associated with improved behaviour in children, but found spanking associated with an increased risk of 13 harmful outcomes. Most people understand that serious maltreatment is detrimental to children`s health and development. Many adults (and even child professionals), on the other hand, still view corporal punishment as reasonable punishment with no negative side effects. From a research perspective, it has been very difficult to try to isolate corporal punishment from more severe forms of violence and a number of other confounding factors.
However, research over the past 20 years has shown that corporal punishment itself is associated with an increased likelihood of negative physical, mental, and behavioral outcomes. Furthermore, no studies suggest that beating a child as a means of discipline is beneficial to the child.2 Finally, Article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child3 states that the child has the right to grow up in an environment free from all forms of abuse. and to be seen as active citizens who can make decisions about their well-being. The involvement of children in the field of abuse has recently been discussed at length by Kosher and Ben-Arieh.4 In Scotland, it has been illegal since 2003 to punish or hit a child in the head with any device, and corporal punishment of children under 3 years of age is illegal. In 2017, the Scottish Government confirmed it would support an MP`s bill banning all corporal punishment altogether. [106] On 3. In October 2019, the bill was backed by 84 votes to 29 in the Scottish Parliament, making Scotland the first United Kingdom. Competence to prohibit all forms of corporal punishment. [107] Alana Ryan, senior public affairs and policy officer at the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, said the study suggests that national bans protect children from both peers and adults. If someone “goes too far” and abuses a child, the fact that corporal punishment is prohibited, we do NOT deter them!! As a mother of 4 and grandmother who made a lot of parenting mistakes, and as an aunt of 9 nieces and nephews, I can look back on the last 30 years and see the negative effects of lack of discipline.