Childline receives many calls from children, parents and caretakers of children, concerned members of the public etc about the issue of the physical abuse of children.
The physically abused children we work with are sometimes severely traumatised by their experiences and sometimes suffer life-long and life threatening consequences of physical assault. Physical and psycho-social therapy does alleviate the negative impacts to some extent but can never totally remove the impact and memory of the abuse.
Many of the incidents of physical abuse reported result from efforts to discipline a child. The context of the physical assault is frequently one in which there are high stressors. For example, many parents who are reported for the physical abuse of children are attempting to raise children in situations that are very difficult, in which there are high stress loads with little support; many teachers who are reported to Childline for physical assault are struggling to manage large numbers of children, without much assistance from their school structure, without training on alternative forms of discipline, sometimes with personal difficulties of their own.
This does not excuse their behaviour in any way, but underlines several issues:
- Criminalising corporal punishment in schools has not eradicated the problem. In fact many educators feel increased tensions over the issue of discipline in the classroom and very unsupported in their teaching role.
- When these incidents are reported to the criminal justice system, the system deals very poorly with these reports – most cases do not go forward to trial and the reality is that the child ends up more victimised than prior to reporting. Intimidation of child victims of all forms of assault is rife, and is frequently encountered in schools, to the extent that sometimes after an incident of physical abuse has been reported to the criminal justice and education system Childline (KZN) has received letters from parents and children retracting the original report and withdrawing charges – even after there has been visible physical injury.
- Parents, caretakers and educators learn nothing creative and proactive through the criminal justice process as it presently operates – in fact where parents/caretakers are removed from the home via arrest and imprisonment more harm frequently results to the child – and other siblings in the home.
- With the HIV/AIDS pandemic severely on many families, caretakers of children and communities, and their capacity to manage the growing number of orphans and children in need of care, one does not want to undermine child care-taking capacity any further but rather look towards strategies that encourage humane and child rights friendly approaches to child rearing.
- Our concern is that if there is a criminalisation of corporal punishment at this time, without first developing and implementing massive countrywide programmes of parent and caretaking skills that include alternative forms of child behaviour shaping and management, children will be reluctant to report, and perhaps more heavily intimidated on the issue of reporting.
Childline therefore
- Does not support corporal punishment as an acceptable method of discipline
- Does support the re-insertion into the Children’s Bill of the clause removing“reasonable chastisement” as a defence to physical assault on a child.
- Does not support at this stage the criminalisation of corporal punishment in the home. This is not to exclude the possibility that criminalisation would be supported in future.
- Is developing a strategy to enhance the knowledge and skills of all our counsellors and staff in promoting, educating and inculcating ideas and skills on alternative forms of child behaviour management.
- Is planning to develop, implement and integrate into our existing programmes knowledge and skills training on child rights and child behaviour management strategies that provide alternatives to corporal punishment, for parents, caretakers of children and educators.
|
