2009 is an important year. It is the target date set by the UN Study on Violence against Children for prohibition of all corporal punishment of children, including in the home. It is also the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and 30 years since Sweden became the first state in the world to ban corporate punishment for all children, also in the family.
When the Swedish ban was passed 1979 some people argued that the proposal was unnecessary and even dangerous. By removing the rights for parents to discipline the child, many well-meaning parents would be stamped as criminals and many children would never learn to behave. But one of the MPs said;
“In a free democracy like our own, we use words as arguments, not blows. We talk to people and do not beat them. If we cannot convince our children with words, we shall never convince them with violence”.
This has become a rather famous statement in Sweden and one, which sums it all up. Use words, not the cane.
Many lessons have been learnt around the globe during the last thirty years of fight against violence towards children. We now know that the fears that abolishing corporal punishment would lead to undisciplined children and parents without control are baseless. Experiences show that ending corporal punishment has exclusively positive effects and that there are alternative, positive discipline strategies, based on respect and understanding.
Tanzania ratified the Convention on Rights of the Child in 1991 and has taken several steps in implementing the Convention. However, corporal punishment is still administered in Tanzania. Too often pupils are beaten and humiliated for the smallest infraction. Hence, corporal punishment, physical and verbal abuse of children is so normalised in the community that some teachers do not even consider such behaviour as abusive to children. I note that in a recent survey only 20% of the interviewed children reported no corporal punishment at their school.
Children have the same rights to protection against violence as adults. Still a majority of children in the world are exposed to high levels of violence.
In my view there are many good reasons why corporal punishment of children should be abolished. It is a violation of children’s rights to respect for physical integrity, human dignity and equal protection under the law. In many cases, corporal punishment can jeopardise children’s rights to education, development, health and even their right to life; can cause serious physical and psychological harm to children; teaches children that violence is an acceptable and appropriate strategy for resolving conflict or getting people to do what they want. And again it is ineffective as a means of discipline. All forms of corporal punishment at home or in schools damage the child's development and learning. Children learn by investigating, questioning and testing. They need the freedom to experiment, think for themselves and take risks. When discipline is maintained through fear, all the pre-conditions for successful learning are lost. In the survey mentioned above the fear of corporal punishment was expressed by the children as a significant obstacle to learning.
Corporal punishment is performed by the adults who are also the role models of the children. The effect of corporally punishing a child is that the child learns that this is the way. It is more common that children who themselves have been abused use the same methods when becoming a parent. They use their own childhood experiences as base for the discipline strategies applied on their own children and teachers use their experiences from being a student when disciplining pupils. As parents, we are the role models for our children. If my actions are different than my ideals – it is the actions that will shape my children. My children will let their behavior be influenced by my actions as a father, and be guided by how I treat my wife, their mother. All of us being role models should make sure that our actions are in line with our ideals.
I have listened to many school girls and boys in Tanzania. The stories they tell are often about passive learning and high dropout rates not least due to poverty and pregnancies but it is also about corporal punishment – violent, unfair and used beyond all existing rules. Through these meetings I have been strengthened in my conviction that the right way to fulfil the commitment against violence in the Rights of the child convention is to abolish all forms of corporal punishment in all schools, in all countries, all over the world.
That would be a bold step to secure the rights of children, of girls and boys, the rights of every single young individual so often being so defenceless unless we grown ups secure their rights. And at the same time being so important for the future wellbeing in our societies – representing the next generation of Ambassadors, MPs, Ministers, Presidents.
Use words, not the cane.
Staffan HerrströmAmbassador of Sweden to Tanzania