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Corporal Punishment and the Law

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Corporal Punishment and the Law The Juvenile Court Corner Corporal Punishment and The Law Judge Leonard Edwards Santa Clara Superior Court (Ret.) ere you spanked as a the appellate court in dictum a different story. As Elizabeth child? Do you spank indicated that hitting a child Gershoff, a University of Texas at your children? Do with a belt and switch “crossed Austin wrote in her meta-analysis Wyou scream at them when they the line over into abuse.” There of 50 years of research on spanking misbehave? We all have our stories are a few similar cases in other encompassing 160,000 children to tell and our opinions about jurisdictions.4 both boys and girls in the United spanking and screaming. Some All states permit spanking just as States. advocates argue that spanking there is general public approval of We found [spanking} linked should be outlawed, while others reasonable corporal punishment to more aggression, more believe that it is an effective means by parents although the approval delinquent behavior, more of disciplining one’s children. seems to be diminishing.5 Some mental health problems, Others resist any efforts made by child development experts worse relationships with the state to tell families how to rear support the use of moderate parents, and putting the their children. Others believe that corporal punishment.6 Various children at higher risk of spanking is supported by the Bible. religious teachings urge the use physical abuse from their California law permits parents of spanking.7 parents.9 to engage in “reasonable and In spite of this support for The research concludes that age-appropriate spanking to the spanking, this paper takes the “although spanking is traditionally buttocks if there is no evidence 1 position that spanking is harmful supposed to teach a lesson to of serious physical injury.” There to children, is an ineffective means correct bad behavior, children who have been a few cases where the of parental discipline, and should were spanked were neither more juvenile courts have been asked be outlawed in our state at least compliant nor better behaved. whether spanking was reasonable for our most vulnerable children. 10 Further support comes from and age-appropriate, the most studies that show that corporal recent California case being Over 100 children die from physical abuse each year in California and punishment in schools leads to Gonzalez v Santa Clara County negative societal outcomes for the 2 almost 100 children suffer near Dept. of Social Services. The children.11 Corporal punishment spanking in that case involved fatalities, most by parents and most involving children five years in schools is still legal in many striking the child with a wooden 12 8 states, but not in California. spoon that caused bruises. The of age or younger. The United agency concluded that it was a States Department of Health and The American Academy of violation of the statute, but the Human Services concluded that Pediatrics (AAP) has just released a Court of Appeals found that “Violence towards very young policy statement advising parents the parent applied reasonable children has reached the level of a against the use of spanking as physical discipline to the child. public health crisis and is similar a disciplinary tool. The AAP The fact that the spanking involved in scope to the destruction of wrote that “[h]itting children bruising was not conclusive since teenagers by street gunfire.” increases their risk for multiple the parent did not intend to inflict Most of us would protest that our detrimental outcomes including bruises and did not know that the brain development, social skills, spanking is very moderate and has 13 conduct would result in bruises. a positive disciplinary impact on and mental health.” 3 In the case of In re Jasmine G. our children. Yet research tells Continued on page 18 6 Spring 2019 The Bench Juvenile Court Corner – continued from page 6 Parents, other caregivers, doesn’t mean that it was beneficial and San Francisco now use the Albert Mohler, Jr., president of and adults interacting to you or that alternative means Triple P program when working The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY. with children and of discipline would not have with families. 8 California Department of Social adolescents should not worked better in the long run. Times change, and cultures also Services, “California Child Fatality and Near Fatality Annual Report, use corporal punishment Maybe, in some cases, the corporal change, but sometimes the law and (including hitting and punishment has made our lives Calendar Year, 2017. education can help make those 9 Gershoff, E., “Corporal Punishment spanking) either in anger more precarious and unhappy, and changes. By letting adults know by Parents and Associated Child or as a punishment maybe, we haven’t turned out quite that it is not legal to strike young Behaviors and Experiences: A 17 Meta-Analytic and Theoretical for or consequence of as well as we’d like to believe. children, we, as a society, will misbehavior, nor should Review,” Psychological Bulletin, Many people resisted mandatory begin to set a standard that will 2002, Vol. 128, No. 4, 539-579. they use any disciplinary seat belts when they were reduce the numbers of children 10 Id.; Strauss, M., Donnelly, Beating strategy, including verbal introduced. The same can be who suffer from parental abuse. the Devil Out of Them, Taylor & Frances, N.Y. (1993); Riak, J., “Plain abuse, that causes shame said for bicycle helmets. In the or humiliation.14 No other state has passed similar Talk about Spanking,” Parents late 19th Century, it was legal legislation. California can be the and Teachers Against Violence in Education (www.nospank.net). The American Professional to hit one’s wife. It has taken us first. Now is the time to recognize Society on the Abuse of Children a long time as a society to take 11 Guthrow, J., “Correlation what science has informed us. Let’s Between High Rates of Corporal (APSAC) supports the AAP’s domestic violence seriously, but end corporal punishment of our Punishment in Public Schools policy statement concluding that now it is against the law and most vulnerable children. and Social Pathologies,” December spanking “increases aggression in rigorously enforced. Smoking 2002; http://nospank.net/ young children in the long run and was not perceived as a health risk Endnotes: correlationstudy.htm. 12 Ingraham v Wright, 430 U.S. 651 1 Welfare and Institutions Code is ineffective in teaching a child until a few decades ago. Practices (1977) 15 §300(a). responsibility and self-control.” change over time in response to 13 Sege, R.D., and Siegel, B.S., 2 223 Cal. App. 4th 72 (2014). The “Effective Discipline to Raise new health information. Isn’t it result is consistent with the case A PROPOSAL Healthy Children,” American time we declared that it is harmful of In re D.M., (2015) 2422 Cal. App. Academy of Pediatrics, Pediatrics, Perhaps we should consider 4th 634. to use corporal punishment on 2018:142(6). E20183112. 3 183 Cal. App. 4th 282, 291 (2000); ending some forms of corporal young children? 14 Id.at p. 6, see also In re A.E., (2008), 168 Cal. punishment. What about a 15 https://www. App.4th 1. But what can we do with out-of- championsforchildrenhr.org/ proposal that adults be prohibited 4 In re J.P., 294 Ill. App. 3d 991, 692 control children who need some apsac-position-statement- from using corporal punishment N.E. 2d 338, 346 (1998); Johnson corporal-punishment-children/. form of discipline? Fortunately, v Smith, 374 N.W. 2nd 317m 329 on children five years of age and The National Association of there are proven interventions (1985). under? The law would simply state Pediatric Nurses agrees with 5 Strauss, M., and Donnelly, that help parents control their both policy statements. www. that it is illegal to hit children D.“Corporal Punishment of children without using corporal jpedhc.org. under that age. There would be no Adolescents by American Parents,” 16 Cole, D., “What Happens punishment. Triple P is one 24 Youth and Society 420 (1993). crime, no punishment, just a law When A Country Bans example of an evidence-based 6 Dobson, James, The New Dare to stating a societal goal. That is what Spanking?” http://npr.org/ 18 Discipline, 23, 44 (1992). Carson, happened in Sweden years ago. A parent education program, and sections/goatsandsodas/ 19 Barbara, “Parents Who Don’t Spank: there are others. A study of 2018/10/25/660191806/ what- similar law was passed over strong Deviation in the Legitimation happens-when-a-country-bans- the effectiveness of the Triple P of Physical Force” (1996) public opposition. It was followed spanking. program concluded that (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, by a public education program that 17 Coulson, J., “The Fallacy of the ‘I University of New Hampshire) Turned Out Fine’ Argument,” The accompanied the law explaining “[t]he real-world magnitude cited in Murray Strauss and Carol New York Times, https://www. alternative ways to discipline of the observed effects Yodanis “Corporal Punishment by nytimes.com/2018/11/27/well/ Parents: Implication for Primary children. Now, years later, people can be derived from the family/the-fallacy-of-the-i-turned- Prevention of Assaults on Spouses in Sweden strongly support that data. In a community out-fine-argument.html. and Children,” 2 Roundtable23, 44 18 Sanders, M.R., Kirby, J.N., Tellegen, law and 53 additional countries with 100,000 children (1992); C.L., & Day, J.J., “The Triple have passed similar laws. These under 8 years of age, these 7 “Regardless of governmental laws, P-Positive Parenting Program: God’s law states that spanking laws prohibit striking children effects would translate into A Systematic Review and Meta- is necessary for the proper of all ages, not just those five 688 fewer cases of CM Analysis of a Multi-Level System of development of a child.” La Vista Parenting Support,” Clin.
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