If you are not defending yourself or another person, hitting a stranger is assault, and assault is illegal. There’s no question about it, and for very good reason. People have the right to be treated with respect.
Touching someone doesn’t just cause physical pain – it’s humiliating. Similarly, only a few countries still use inflicting physical pain as a punishment.
When we read news articles about countries ripping off people for vandalism or theft, most of us react with outrage: “How barbaric and backward!” We are sick and tired of violence. Mankind has seen so much, and can hardly do anything. Violence should be a last resort, used only when absolutely necessary.
Strangely, there is a group of people to whom this peaceful attitude is suspended. Children all over the world will be “hit”, “hit” and “hit” by parents and teachers who face little opposition due to the widespread social acceptance of the practice.
Globally, about a billion children – that is, six out of 10 – between the ages of two and 14 are subjected to corporal punishment by caregivers on a regular basis, making corporal punishment the most common form of violence against children.
Isn’t it hypocritical to punish adults for hitting other adults, and the government for inflicting pain on criminals as punishment, but not recognize the “patting”, “patting” and “hitting” of children at home and at school?
Those words are euphemisms, of course. Hitting is hitting, and children are people (not adults’), so hitting a child is hitting a person.
If we think it should be illegal to hit adults who commit crimes, why do so many people think it’s okay to use physical violence against children? Being the most helpless members of society, don’t children deserve more protection than adults – rather than less?
Corporal punishment for children comes in many forms. There are the most horrible cases, such as a drunken father beating his child for crying incessantly, where the child is only a child and is too young to understand.
But there are also cases when parents or teachers hit children with the best intentions. When the topic comes up, there is always someone who will make the familiar argument: “I used to shake my ass and it looked good!” Indeed, not all children who experience corporal punishment will grow up to be damaged adults. That doesn’t make for a good argument.
Some pregnant women drink alcohol and give birth to healthy children. Should you follow if a pregnant woman drinks a bottle of wine once? hardly. In fact, anecdotes rarely make for reliable evidence.
Good decisions are based on science, and we have decades of research showing that children who are beaten are more likely to develop mental health problems and learning difficulties, and are more likely to engage in anti-social behavior as adults, including criminal behaviour. . If you look good, it’s not because your parents or teachers hit you, but in spite of it!
A healthy relationship between parents and children is based on love and trust. When parents spank their children, they instill emotions such as fear and shame, which are not only toxic to their relationship with their children but also poison their children’s future relationships with others.
Children who learn at home that violence is an acceptable way to resolve conflict are less likely to become victims or perpetrators of violence as adults. Importantly, it includes intimate partner violence, which is very common and a serious public health problem.
Words, if chosen wisely, are only effective in combating unwanted behavior in children, with no long-term effects of physical punishment.
If you read this from one of the many places where hitting children is still a widespread – and widely accepted – social reality, it might be tempting to take a fatalistic attitude: “Parents here have always spanked their children, and always will. This it is part of our traditional culture and values.
Culture and values, however, are not set in stone. They are changing. Change is usually slow, which we often do not notice it, but just go talk to people who are a few decades older than you, and they will tell you how much society has changed since they were young.
In 1979, Sweden was the first country to ban all corporal punishment of children, including at home. At that time, 90% of parents in Sweden had children. By 2000, that number had dropped to below 10%, and it’s even lower today.
Sometimes, it only takes one generation to change a culture! But change doesn’t happen by itself. We must do what is right now, towards a future where children grow up without violence.
Rainer Ebert holds a PhD in philosophy from Rice University in Texas. His academic career spanned four continents and included work at universities in the United States, South Africa, Tanzania and Canada. From 2017 to 2019, he was a philosophy lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam. He can reach it rainerebert.com and you can find him on Twitter @rainer_ebert.
Jackson Juma Coy is an assistant professor of philosophy in the department of philosophy and religious studies at the University of Dar es Salaam, where he is also working on a PhD thesis on the topic of medical ethics. He can reach it jacksoncoy.wordpress.com and you can find him on Twitter @JacksonCoy2.
The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect official policies or positions Mail & Guardians.