Spanking of Children Not in Accord with UN Rights Convention

Source

USA, January 31, 2004: This informative article in the Globe and Mail is a long report on the state of acceptance or nonacceptance of corporal punishment among various cultures and nations of the world. It reads in part:



Child behavior experts and the United Nations are questioning the practise of spanking or any other form of physical punishment and many religions are encouraging parents to discipline their children by non-violent means. Peter Dudding, director of Child Welfare League of Canada says, “The evidence is clear in terms of the use of physical punishment — it’s harmful to children.” The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which monitors implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, states that “legal and social acceptance of physical punishment of children, in the home and in institutions, is not compatible with the Convention.”