Ditch spanking law, say Canadian doctors, calling it excuse for poor parenting

Something needs to be done about the Criminal Code’s so-called spanking law.

According to registered forensic psychologist and UBC professor, Jan Cioe, it would be simpler – and safer – to do away with it all together.

“It’s easier to say ‘never’ under any circumstances than it is to say, ‘When done by a reasonable person at a reasonable time,’” he said. “It’s just cleaner.”

A strongly worded editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal released Tuesday called for the repeal of Section 43 of the Criminal Code, which gives parents and teachers a legal defence when they physically discipline children.

“It is time for Canada to remove this anachronistic excuse for poor parenting from the statute book,” CMAJ editor-in-chief John Fletcher wrote in a signed editorial.

The Supreme Court of Canada upheld the Criminal Code provision by a 6-3 margin in a landmark 2004 ruling.

The high court ruled that the provision did not infringe a child’s right to security of the person under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment.

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However, a series of limitations are attached to the law, like force cannot exceed what is reasonable under the circumstances, only parents may use reasonable force for correction and teachers may use it to remove a child from the classroom. But the main point was the physical punishment must be corrective – not from frustration or loss of temper.

“But that’s when most people do it,” said Cioe. “The concern is often times people use force (and) do it under these circumstances where they’re angry and they use more force than is necessary and they’re not really doing it . . . to correct.”

And beyond that, most people are unaware of the other limitations.

“They tend to be black and white,” he said. “People have different versions of what is accepted.”

In the editorial, Fletcher argues that parents need to be educated on how to discipline their children.

He adds that the Criminal Code needs to be amended because it tells parents that physical punishment is an acceptable way to discipline children.

“Although it is not necessary to make spanking a crime to encourage alternative approaches to parenting, Section 43 of the Criminal Code of Canada sends the wrong message,” the editorial reads. “It is a constant excuse for parents to cling to an ineffective method of child discipline when better approaches are available.”

The list of limitations leads to “nuanced versions” of the law, Cioe said, so “an absolute kind of approach” is generally what’s favoured amongst medical professionals.

“The general consensus many people have come to is that it’s better to say ‘never,’” he said. “There’s correlational evidence between . . . use of physical force as an abusive way of controlling the child and psychological problems for the kid – and they can be fairly long lasting.”

A Library of Parliament analysis of the issue concluded that there was no national consensus on this issue and that public opinion is divided. It said that a 2003 poll found 69 per cent of Canadians favoured repealing Section 43 for teachers. But only 51 per cent said it should be removed for parents.

– with files from Canadian Press