Freedom from fear

Thursday, 1 February 2018 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Sri Lanka’s National Child Protection Authority says it will take tough action against schools subjecting students to corporal punishment after it received a complaint of nine students being punished in an international school. The move reopens the debate of whether corporal punishment is child abuse and what forms of discipline can be adopted to better manage and promote the welfare of children.

NCPA Chairperson Attorney at Law Marini de Livera has argued such cruel and degrading treatment is a violation of Article 11 of the Constitution of Sri Lanka. She believes positive discipline methods enumerated in Circular No. 2016/12 issued by the Ministry of Education should be resorted to, by all teachers in Sri Lanka where non-violent means such as advising the child and speaking to the parents among other things is seen to be more effective.

In 1990, Sri Lanka also became a party to the United Nations Child Rights Convention (UNCRC) where State parties have taken on legal obligations to take all appropriate measures to protect children from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury, abuse or maltreatment.

Sri Lanka is clearly not alone in this matter. According to UNICEF four out of five children worldwide aged 2 to 14 are subjected to some kind of violent discipline in their homes. In 2014, UNICEF released the most comprehensive collection of data on violent punishment of children to date. The numbers starkly showed that violent discipline is the most common form of violence in childhood.

On average, the survey data from 62 countries indicated that almost a billion children aged 2-14 had been physically disciplined in the home in the month before the survey was taken. Physical discipline, also known as corporal punishment, is defined by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child as “any punishment in which physical force is used and intended to cause some degree of pain or discomfort, however light.”

The effects of many types of violence can be lifelong and can even be passed from generation to generation. Abundant evidence exists to show how violent discipline is associated with – among other negative outcomes – poor mental and physical health later in life, increased violence and aggression, and damage to family relationships.

One interesting revelation in the UNICEF data analysis was that many children are subjected to physical punishment even when adults in the household don’t think it is necessary. This gap may seem illogical but it could be explained by the fact that many parents lack alternative, non-violent methods of discipline.

As of the end of 2014, corporal punishment in the home has been prohibited in 44 countries, in alternative care and day care settings in 50 countries, in schools in 122 countries, and in penal institutions in 130 countries.

The pace of law reform is accelerating rapidly, with 10 countries adding their names to the list of those that prohibit corporal punishment of children in the home and all other settings, in 2014 alone. Other governments are also expressing their commitment to reform; at the end of 2014, 45 countries had clearly committed to prohibition.

Needless to say these numbers would have increased over the last few years and it is time for Sri Lanka to join the march towards progress.