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Other measures to prohibit corporal punishment
This area of the website is designed to accompany the Global Initiative handbook Prohibiting corporal punishment of children: A guide to legal reform and other measures (December 2007), available here [LINK] as a pdf. These resources are also available as a separate pdf file here. We welcome further information about other legal and other resources to support prohibition: please email info@endcorporalpunishment.org.
Supporting prohibition in the home
Denmark
Law reform in 1997 was accompanied by an information campaign developed by the National Council for Children and partly funded by the Ministries of Justice and Social Affairs. The campaign aimed to raise awareness about the new law and "to give inspiration to a more open, accepting and humane practice in the upbringing of children"1. It included the distribution by teachers, health visitors and day-care centre staff to parents of children aged under 10 years of a pamphlet – entitled When I have children I will not smack them – giving advice on how to educate their children without using corporal punishment, together with details of where to turn for support. Another pamphlet was produced for ethnic minority parents, translated into Turkish, Arabic, Yugoslav and English. A popular-style magazine was produced for parents, to be given to them by professionals concerned about the routine use of corporal punishment. A television programme featuring an interview with a mother, a family therapist, and children giving their opinions, was aired twice in autumn 1998 and is available as a video for use in parenting education. Posters featuring a "no slapping" logo were distributed to all primary schools, and postcards carrying the same logo were distributed in cafes.
Finland
The Ministry of Justice and the National Board of Social Affairs published a leaflet on parent-child relationships called What is Good Upbringing?, which was distributed in health clinics and social welfare offices. In 1981, leaflets entitled When you can't cope, seek help, don't hit the child were distributed in an education campaign organised by the Central Union for Child Welfare, and prime-time television slots promoted the use of discussion and reasoning techniques in parenting.
Sweden
When corporal punishment was explicitly prohibited in 1979, a large scale campaign was mounted to raise awareness of the new law and why it was enacted and to give advice on ways of parenting children without using corporal punishment. A 16-page colour educational pamphlet (Can you bring up children successfully without smacking and spanking?) was sent to every household with children and to agencies working with families, and was made available in 10 minority languages. Here are extracts from the pamphlet:
Why forbid all forms of physical punishment?
"Psychologists, psychiatrists and other people whose work gives them insights into the parent-child relationship are practically unanimous in agreeing that all forms of physical punishment are highly objectionable as a method of bringing up children. A parent who strikes his or her child is not going to gain anything positive in the way of child education by this act – rather, the child runs the risk of suffering some form of mental harm.
The law therefore now forbids all forms of physical punishment of children, including smacking, etc., although it goes without saying that you can still snatch a child away from a hot stove or open window if there is a risk of its injuring itself.
Should physical punishment meted out to a child cause bodily injury or pain which is of more than very temporary duration it is classified as assault and is an offence punishable under the Criminal Code. In theory at least, this was also true before the new bill came into force, although it was not generally known. However, the advent of the new law has now swept all doubt aside, although as before trivial offences will remain unpunished, either because they cannot be classified as assault or because an action is not brought. But while the purpose of the new legislation is indeed to make it quite clear that spanking and beating are no longer allowed, it does not aim at having more parents punished than hitherto.
Many psychological punishments are at least as detrimental to a child's development as beating. Threatening, scaring or ostracizing a child, locking it up or making it feel ridiculous can only be considered as injurious and humiliating treatment and are therefore forbidden."
Setting limits and sticking to them
"Setting limits is absolutely necessary. However, before doing so parents should have a clear idea of exactly where they need to be set in view of the child's age and state of development. And furthermore, parents must be prepared to ask themselves why they consider these particular limits to be of importance. Limits felt to be justified should be closely observed and stuck to consistently – but it is still important that parents be aware of their own motives in setting them and that restrictions be made only after consideration of what is best for the child and its family.
Children need support and clearly defined bounds since this gives them a sense of security. Parents are endowed with a natural authority over their children since they have lived longer and have more experience. However, this is in no way the same as brandishing authority and making all the decisions without listening to the opinions of others. On the contrary, a relationship based on a continuous interplay with affectionate parents or guardians will gradually develop an inner voice within the child telling it what is allowed and what is not. This voice must not be weakened by the use of punishments."
Can one show anger?
"Some people seem to make self-control and patience into a sort of code of honour; but if you have to strain yourself to bottle up your anger, disappointment or irritation you will also be running a great risk of keeping back feelings of genuine warmth and affection. Feelings don't all come out of separate taps, they come in a mixture. Parents obviously love their children a great deal but still get angry with them on occasions, so if you can admit to yourself your right to be angry it will be that much easier to avoid using bad methods such as physical punishments. Showing your distress and fear is much better."
Why was the law passed?
"Because it is a natural historical development. We have already done away with the right to beat one's wife and servants. We have done away with the right to strike children at school.
Because our democratic community needs children taught to think for themselves, who are used to making their own choices and to shouldering responsibility. It is impossible to beat a child into obedience and at the same time expect it to be able to think for itself.
Because bringing up a child is much easier if you do not resort to beating. Children want to like you so very much it is a pity to destroy a feeling of kinship and mutual understanding by beating if it can be avoided. You don't go round hitting your friends, do you? Why should you hit your children, then?"
The new law was reported extensively in the media and promoted in parent education classes and child health clinics. In schools, the law was (and is) used to teach children about the process of law-making and, in doing so, about the content of the new law, and it is discussed in parenting and family life classes at school. For two months, information about the new law, in the form of a cartoon of a young girl saying "I'll never ever hit my own children", was printed on milk cartons. According to one report, by two years after its introduction, 99% of the population was aware of the law Ziegert (1983), "The Swedish Prohibition of Corporal Punishment: A Preliminary Report", Journal of Marriage and the Family, November, pp. 917-926. Cited in Boyson, Rowan (2002), Equal protection for children: An overview of the experience of countries that accord children full legal protection from physical punishment, London: National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC)).
In 2001/2002, the Swedish Parliamentary Committee on Child Abuse undertook three campaigns targeted at parents/guardians, children and professionals. The Committee published a pocket-sized book for parents entitled A Book for Parents (Föräldraboken) which contained six scenarios of corporal punishment in the family, including a mother hitting her little boy out of exasperation, and a teenager being locked in his room during a mealtime. The book then offered advice "to anyone who finds it difficult being a parent sometimes". The book was distributed via pharmacies, child health centres and post offices, and was used in schools and social services in discussions and parenting courses. It has been supported by a video and other teaching materials, and translated into Arabic, English, Kurdish, Persian, Somali, Spanish, Turkish, and simplified English.
The children's campaign ("Get a Grip") was a collaborative initiative involving the Swedish government and a number of NGOs, aimed at children aged 10-13 years of age, with the objective of strengthening their self-esteem and giving information on how to seek support if in distress or at risk of harm. A rap song on the theme of children's rights was distributed to schools with teaching materials, and an accompanying music video was shown in cinemas across the country.
Finally, a campaign ("Suspecting Child Abuse") undertaken with the Swedish Trade Union Confederation, the Confederation of Professional Associations and the Central Organisation of Salaried Employees in Sweden, was targeted at professionals working with children below the age of 10 years, informing them about signs of abuse and their reporting obligations. Packs which included dramatisations of situations causing professional suspicion together with booklets on "Signs of Child Abuse and Neglect" and "Helping Children at Risk" were distributed.
In 2001, the Swedish government published a summary of its legal and other measures to prohibit all corporal punishment of children, available at www.endcorporalpunishment.org/pages/pdfs/ending.pdf.