Campaigns against corporal punishment

Campaigns against corporal punishment have been seen in a number of different countries at different times, and they have met with varying degrees of success.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, one of the earliest organised campaigns was that of the Humanitarian League, with its regular magazine The Humanitarian, which campaigned for several years for the abolition of the chastisement of young seamen in the Royal Navy, a goal partially achieved in 1906 when naval birching was abandoned as a summary punishment.^[1] However, it did not manage to get the Navy to abolish caning as a punishment, which continued at Naval training establishments until 1967.^[2]

The Howard League for Penal Reform campaigned in the 1930s for, among many other things, the abolition of judicial corporal punishment by cat-o'-nine-tails or birching.^[3] This was eventually achieved in the U.K. in 1948.^[4]

The Society of Teachers Opposed to Physical Punishment (STOPP) was set up in the U.K. in 1968 to campaign for the abolition of corporal punishment in UK schools.^[5]

STOPP was a very small pressure group that lobbied government, local authorities and other official institutions. It also investigated individual cases of corporal punishment and aided families wishing to pursue their cases through the UK and European courts.^[6]

The UK Parliament abolished corporal punishment in state schools in 1986; there is no way of knowing how much part STOPP's campaigning played in this.^[7] STOPP then wound itself up and ceased to exist, though some of the same individuals went on to form EPOCH to campaign to outlaw spanking and spanking in the domestic setting, even by parents.

United States

An early U.S. activist against corporal punishment was Horace Mann, who in the 19th century unsuccessfully opposed its use in schools.^[8]

In the United States there are currently several different organisations advocating the abolition of paddling in schools, including:

• The Center for Effective Discipline, based in Ohio
• Parents and Teachers Against Violence in Education (PTAVE), based in California
• People Opposed to Paddling Students (POPS), based in Texas.

Worldwide

     Countries that have explicitly abolished all forms of corporal punishment of children.

An organisation called "Global Initiative To End All Corporal Punishment Of Children" (GITEACPOC) was set up in 2001 to campaign for the worldwide prohibition by law of all corporal punishment of children, whether by parents or schools. It seeks to monitor the legal situation in every country of the world.^[9]

The UN Study on Violence against Children sets a target date of 2009 for universal prohibition, including in the home,^[10] an aim described by The Economist as "the latest piece of Utopian dottiness from the UN".^[11]

Notable people who are anti-spanking, and known anti-spanking advocates

The following are either noted personalities who are anti-spanking, or individuals who are significantly involved within the anti-spanking movement.

• Sue Bradford (b. 1952) Introduced^[12] the Crimes (Abolition of Force as a Justification for Child Discipline) Amendment Bill 2005 banning parental spanking in New Zealand
• Marilu Henner (b. 1952) - actress and occasional author of parenting books. She has been highly critical of spanking in her books^{[citation needed]}
• Angelina Jolie (b. 1975) - Actress, humanitarian.^{[citation needed]}
• Star Jones (b. 1962) - former co-host of The View - sharply criticized Terrence Howard during in an interview when he mentioned he had spanked his daughter in the past.^{[citation needed]}
• Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968) - equal rights activist. According to one of his daughters, he did not believe in spanking, and never spanked any of his children.^{[citation needed]}
• Jordan Riak (b. 1935)^[13] - Executive director of PTAVE - drafted the bill which banned school paddling in California in 1986.

References

1. ^ Gibson, Ian. The English Vice, Duckworth, London, 1978, pp.171-176. ISBN 0715612644
2. ^ Roxan, David. "Storm over canings for Navy boys", News of the World, London, 23 April 1967.
3. ^ Benson, G. Flogging: The Law and Practice in England, Howard League for Penal Reform, London, 1937. OCLC 5780230
4. ^ "Power to order flogging: Abolition approved in Committee", The Times, London, 12 December 1947.
5. ^ Jessel, Stephen. "The high cost of cutting out the cane". The Times, London, 28 September 1972.
6. ^ Hodges, Lucy. "Caned schoolgirl awarded £1,200". The Times, London, 27 February 1982.
7. ^ Gould, Mark. "Sparing the rod". The Guardian, London, 9 January 2007.
8. ^ PTAVE website.
9. ^ GITEACPOC website.
10. ^ "The United Nations Study on Violence against Children", Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
11. ^ "Spare the rod, say some", The Economist, London, 29 May 2008.
12. ^ Hansard (Volume:627;Page:22086) Sue Bradford introduces the Child Discipline Bill in the New Zealand Parliament
13. ^ Jordan Riak page at PTAVE.

See also

• School corporal punishment
• Corporal punishment in the home
• Judicial corporal punishment
• Spanking
• Caning
• Paddling (punishment)
• Corporal punishment

External links: Anti-spanking websites

• Project NoSpank (PTAVE)
• Center for Effective Discipline
• NoPaddle.com
• National Coalition to Abolish Corporal Punishment In Schools
• Children Are Unbeatable! Alliance: an alliance in the United Kingdom
• GITEACPOC