The right of the swedish parents to spank their children was abolished in 1966. A proper ban was made march 15 1979 and upheld in parenting act of the swedish law by July 1:st 1979.
"Children have the right to care, security and a good upbringing. Children shall be treated with respect for their person and integrity and shall not be subjected to corporal punishment or otherwise demeaning treatment"
This clarifyes that the law regarding assault in 3 chapter 5 § in the penal law also covers the corporal punishment of children. Sweden was the first country to do this.
Corporal punishment in school was abolished in 1958 when the new school law passed.
In 1965 53% of swedish adults were in favour of the use of corporal punishment as a diciplinary tool. In 1994 the number i favour had dropped to 11%. The usage of corporal punishement of children is today is very low in international comparison.
We can se a continuing fall of the acceptance of corporal punishment in the 21 century but at the same time there has been a rise in the actual assault on children from 2000 to 2006. This rise, however horrifying is small, and it is possile that it will fall once more and isn't a break in the trend. And worse is that the percentege of children subjected to aggravated corporal punishment has been hovering around 3-4% since the 80:ies. The same numbers subjected to aggravated corporal punishment in the US. However, that kind of use of violence is hardly ever swayed by changing societal attiudes but requiers specialised help. (1)
Since Sweden passed its ban on corporal punishment in 1979, 22 other nations have followed:
1983: Finland; 1987: Norway; 1989: Austria; 1994: Cyprus; 1997: Denmark; 1998: Latvia; 1999: Croatia, Israel; 2000: Germany, Bulgaria; 2003: Iceland; 2004: Romania, Ukraine, Hungary; 2006: Greece; 2007: Chile, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Uruguay, Venezuela(2)
We've also had showings of "Supernanny" and such shows here in sweden but the methods depicted there (Time out) are discussed and not very popular at times. Some of thos methods could work for the moment, but some are just plain behaviouristic....
And is it not far better to see your child as an individual, needing individual means?
For additional reading there is this booklet that the organization Children’s Rights in Society (BRIS) distributes for free.
It tells seven tales about young and older children and mothers and fathers who sometimes loose control and do not understand why. The stories are told from different points of view, and contain very insightful conclusions and useful advice.(3)
Does your country allow the corporal punishment of children? If it does, is there a movement to change it? How do you feel about it?
1.http://www.allmannabarnhuset.se/data/files/v_ldmotbarn.pdf
2. http://www.naturalchild.org/guest/joan_durrant.html
3. http://www.respectworks.eu/what-works/countries.html#c266
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