Lawmatters.in

An article from the CoE Commissioner of Human Rights says that Europe is moving towards a total ban of domestic violence against children by the end of 2009. It quotes Janusz Korczak who once said, “There are many terrible things in the world, but the worst is when a child is afraid of his father, mother or teacher,” and, speaking of violence against children, it says:

“This violence may be a deliberate act of punishment or just the impulsive reaction of an irritated parent or teacher. Both cases constitute a breach of human rights. …. The invention of concepts such as “reasonable punishment” and “lawful correction” arises from the perception of children as the property of their parents. Such “rights” are based on the power of the stronger over the weaker and are upheld by means of violence and humiliation. …. Children have had to wait the longest to be given equal legal protection from deliberate assaults – a protection the rest of us take for granted. It is extraordinary that children, whose developmental state and small size is acknowledged to make them particularly vulnerable to physical and psychological harm, have been singled out for less protection from assaults on their fragile bodies, minds and dignity.”

Across the pond, things seem to be a little different. In 2008, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled for a couple who spanked their 12-year-old son thrity-six times with a paddle. It did not establish a ‘rule that the infliction of pain constitutes physical injury or abuse’.

In an even more unusual case mentioned in the American Bar Association Journal, Judge Gustavo Garza from Texas was being sued for giving Daniel Zurita the option of spanking his 14-year-old stepdaughter (which he took). The alternative was that she would be found guilty of a criminal offence and fined $500. The judge apparently keeps two paddles in his courtroom and, in this case, allegedly later chastised Zurita for failing to hit the girl hard enough.

In India, in recent years, there have been a number of criminal cases filed against teachers who have beaten their students although, as a general rule, this has been after the children have been seriously injured or have died. Such cases could also, in theory, be filed against parents who assault their children although such cases are rarely heard of.

The Right to Education Bill, 2005, does, however, prohibit the infliction of any form of corporal punishment on children by schoolteachers.