ABSOLUTE PROHIBITION - THE CASE FOR

Peter Newell in his article Ending Corporal Punishment of Children (14) is of the view that every case of CP is deliberate violence to children and is a breach of their fundamental human rights. This is because CP always violates the child’s physical integrity, demonstrates disrespect for his/her human dignity and undermines self-esteem. To Mr. Newell, CP on children is an act of deliberate assault on a child.

Mr. Newell also pointed the dangers it causes on children, both short term and long term. He states “There is no question whatsoever that the overwhelming direction of the evidence points towards bad, unwanted effects, and certainly no positive long-term effects whatsoever.”

Steve Pete in his article To smack or not to smack? Should the law prohibit South African parents from imposing CP on their children? (15) observed that most of the research conducted “seems to indicate that moderate CP of the kind permitted by our common law is not beneficial, and may well cause harm to children”.

Jane Fortin in her article Children’s rights and the use of physical force (16) points out that advocates of prohibiting CP refer to “the growing body of research indicating that there are long-term negative effects associated with such punishment and that these far outweigh any seemingly short-term consequences”.

Another ground put forward is the comparison are made between acts towards adults and acts towards children. The question frequently asked is if it is not permissible to beat an adult, then why should it be permissible to beat a child? M. Freeman states “If CP punishment is bad for adults, then it is bad for children, because children are people too” (17).

Reference is always made to the situation in Sweden where CP on children has been abolished completely. This “success story” shows that it is possible to do so.

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(14) in Revisiting Children’s Rights, Fottrell 2000
(15) South African Journal on Human Rights Vol 14 1998 at pages 430-460
(16) Child and Family Law Quarterly (2001) at 243
(17) Time to stop hitting our children 1988 51 Childright 5-8