An Examination of Child's Rights and the Principles of Corporal Punishment
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Date
2019
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Redeemer's University Law Journal
Abstract
In different entities across the nations, parents, and
others apply corporal punishment on children for
wrongdoing. Corporal punishment is a system of
discipline mechanism in which supervising adult
deliberately inflicts pain upon a child in response to a
child's unacceptable behavior. Africans cherish
certain culturalized ways of training children among
which is to spank, whip, swat or paddle children to
punish them for their wrongdoing. The Holy Bible
commands parents not to withhold correction from
the child, because if beaten him with the rod, such
shall not die. Following this biblical injunction,
punishing children by an adult as reiterated in the
same chapter of the bible encourages supervising
adults or parents to spank, because such shall deliver
a child's soul from hell. The motive behind all these
correcting mechanisms has been argued to be in the
best interest of the child. If beating, spanking, and
other corrective mechanisms are in the best interest
of the child, to what extent should a parent or
guardian beat a child to train them as prescribed by
culture and religious mandate? Were the law to
permits beating a child, it is needful to ascertain what
level of beating is acceptable under the law to
prevent the commission of another offense. These are
what this paper has attempted to answer. The paper
concludes on a strong notion that parents, teachers,
and guardians need not to necessarily beat up a child
before giving such a child best training.
Description
Keywords
Corporal punishment, African culture, Best interest of a child, Training, Correction