doi:10.1111/j.1440-1754.2011.02143.

EDITORIAL

Corporal punishment of children: Changing the culture

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In his populist novel, The Slap, Christos Tsiolkas describes the

ramifications when a man smacks a naughty 3-year-old boy at
a family barbecue.1 It was not his son, and the boys parents take
the man to court. If he had smacked his own son, there would
have been no scandal and no novel. The outrage provoked by
the slap is not about the assault to the child but to the parents.
The issue is child possession, not child protection. A recent
newspaper poll reported that 93% of Australian readers thought
parents should have the right to reasonable chastisement of
their own child. In 2007, in New Zealand, in response to some
horrific child beatings and murders by parents, a Private Members bill was passed to remove a parents defence of having used
reasonable force.2 Although both the intention and the
reported outcome of the legislation were not to target parents
who occasionally administer a gentle admonitory smack, the
law divided the nation. In a 2009 referendum, 87% of New
Zealanders wanted the right to smack their child reinstated.2,3
There is a long history of parents and teachers smacking and
even beating children with weapons. The expression spare the
rod and spoil the child is actually a misquotation of the passage
in the Bible, he who spares the rod hates the son (Proverbs
13:24). Generations of children have been beaten by their
fathers with a belt or slipper or by their mothers with a wooden
spoon, and it never did us any harm. The symbolism is intriguing: Dad uses the belt that shows who wears the pants or the
after-work slippers, while Mum uses a kitchen implement.
One hundred years ago in Sweden, severe beatings were
common, but over time, Sweden has achieved a marked change
in the cultural attitude to corporal punishment. In 1928, corporal punishment was banned in Swedish secondary schools (it is
not banned yet in Queensland or the Northern Territory). In
1949, the wording in Swedens family law was changed to allow
parents to reprimand not punish their children, but few knew
about it and the impact was minimal. In 1979, the Parents Code
was changed to state that children may not be subjected to
physical punishment or other injurious or humiliating treatment. Legal sanctions, however, rested with the Penal Code,
which applied only to cases that constituted assault. To increase
public awareness, the new Code was printed on milk cartons
and, within two years, 99% of Swedes were familiar with the
law. In 1965, over half the Swedish population thought corporal
punishment of children was sometimes necessary, but by 1994,
only 11% did.4
The opposing view to a parents right to chastise their child as
they choose is the childs right to protection from harm. It is
controversial whether changing societal attitudes to smacking
children would reduce child abuse, as the pathway to child
abuse is so complex and multi-factorial. In the mid-1980s,
however, Sweden had less than one-third the rate of child
deaths due to abuse than the USA.4,5
As a parent, societal disapproval of smacking might have
saved me from two of my most painfully embarrassing memo-

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ries, one when I publicly smacked my child on the leg overvigorously, and another when I smacked the same child who
was grinning gloatingly at a wounded brother, only for the
brother to admit he had fallen and hurt himself unaided by his
sibling. Many educationalists and psychologists argue that time
out is a more effective discipline than smacking, although the
evidence is scant.
When researching this editorial, I was surprised to find that
29 mainly European countries ban all corporal punishment of
children. We have come far since Dickens description of pupils
being tortured at Dotheboys Hall where Nicholas Nickleby
taught, but the Swedish story provides compelling evidence
that, with time and perseverance, it is possible to change cultural attitudes for the better, so that adults hitting children
becomes a thing of the past. In his article in this issue, Kim Oates
develops the argument further and argues that we as paediatricians should advocate to change perceptions and to change the
law.6 I wholeheartedly agree.
Professor David Isaacs
Editor-in-Chief
Childrens Hospital at Westmead
davidi@chw.edu.au

References
1 Tsiolkas C The Slap. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 2008.
2 Wood B, Hassall I, Hook G. Unreasonable Force. New Zealands Journey
Towards Banning the Physical Punishment of Children. Wellington: Save

Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health 47 (2011) 491492

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Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health 2011 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (Royal Australasian College of Physicians)

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Corporal punishment of children

D Isaacs

the Children New Zealand, 2008; Available from: http://

www.savethechildren.org.nz/index.html [accessed June 2011].
3 Durrant JE. The Swedish ban on corporal punishment: its history and
effects. In: Durrant JE, ed. Family Violence against Children: A
Challenge for Society. Berlin; New York: Walter de Gruyter & Co, 1996;
1925. Available from: http://www.nospank.net/durrant.htm [accessed
June 2011].

4 Durrant JE. Evaluating the success of Swedens corporal punishment

ban. Child Abuse Negl. 1999; 23: 43548.
5 Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children. States with
full abolition. Available from: http://www.endcorporalpunishment.org/
pages/frame.html [accessed June 2011].
6 Oates RK. Physical punishment of children: can we continue to accept
the status quo? J. Paediatr. Child Health 2011; 47: 5057.

BRIEF COMMUNICATION

Website Review Hands on Scotland

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Samson C Kwok, General Paediatrician, Auburn Hospital, Auburn, New South Wales, Australia (kwoks@wahs.nsw.gov.au)
On the homepage of the Hands on Scotland website (Fig. 1),
http://www.handsonscotland.co.uk/, you can find this quote:
One hundred years from now, it will not matter what kind of
car I drove, what kind of house I lived in, how much money I
had in my bank account nor what my clothes looked like. But
the world may be a little better because I was important in the
life of a child. I think this is not only an excellent quote for
parents, but also a meaningful reminder to us paediatricians that
through looking after our patients physical and emotional
health, we can really make a difference to and therefore be
important in the lives of many children. And that is something
really special indeed.

Fig. 1

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Hands on Scotland website homepage.

In our efforts to promote children and young peoples emotional wellbeing, the Hands on Scotland website may prove to
be a useful resource. It was developed as part of a national
project for mental health in Scotland. It deals with many different aspects of children and young peoples behaviour, and is
organised neatly into two sections that complement each other:
The Troubling Behaviours section: It deals with behavioural
issues, such as school refusal, self-harm and sexualised
behaviour. On each topic, information about the behaviour,
what can be done and when to seek help are presented as
articles and video clips. The key messages in the articles are
presented in point form and therefore very easy to follow,
while the videos mostly reiterate the information contained
in the articles. Despite being primarily designed for healthcare workers, I have found many of the articles useful to
parents as well.
The Flourishing section: It is concerned with building positive emotional health, and is targeted at both parents and
professionals. Examples of topics covered include building
confidence, encouraging gratitude and developing good relationships. Information is again presented as articles, complemented by video clips discussing tools that can help one
achieve positive living. There are also interesting ideas for
activities related to each topic for parents and health workers
to try out.
The Hands on Scotland website offers advice that is practical
and thoughtful. The articles are generally well written, and on
many occasions, I have printed them out and given them to
parents as fact sheets. I did find that when I played some of the
video clips on my work computer (which does not come with
computer speakers), the audio was too soft to be heard clearly.
That minor criticism aside, I think this website will be useful in
promoting emotional well-being of not only Scottish children
and young people, but also those living in Australia and other
countries.

Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health 47 (2011) 491492

2011 The Author
Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health 2011 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (Royal Australasian College of Physicians)