Parents' Right To Punish Children Disputed

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31027, 5 April 1966, Page 13

Parents ' Right To Punish Children Disputed

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter) STOCKHOLM. A sudden spate of ill-treatment of children in Sweden has started a heated debate on whether junior should be spanked when he dips his fingers in the custard.

Some politicians hope to change legislation and deprive parents of their present right to punish their children. A poll organised by the Swedish Institute for Public Opinion showed that a clear majority of Swedish people consider it their undisputed right to spank their children.

Members of Parliament, however, have emphasised that if this was illegal, many cases of maltreatment would never happen. Public discussion of the topic comes after two widelypublicised cases of child beating. In one of them, a parent was convicted of murder after kicking his two-year-old baby and locking it in a cupboard. A 25-year-old mother at present faces a charge of murder after allegedly throwing her son on the floor. The authorities, although seriously concerned about more severe cases of ill treatment, are also worried because many parents unwittingly maltreat their children simply because they spank them too hard. In some cases, this has resulted in broken bones, authorities say. Mrs Ulla Lindstroem, Minister without Portfolio, who acts as Government consultant on family matters, says that people who have studied the problem believe that spanking children can no longer be

tolerated or condoned by law even if the aim is to bring up children properly. Mrs Lindstroem is working on a proposal which she hopes to put to the spring session of Parliament and which, if passed into law, would make it the legal duty of all Swedes to report cases of the illtreatment of children. The Government has already ordered the Swedish Medical Board to investigate cases of ill-treatment and submit a report, to be compiled by six experts, as soon as possible. Those in favour of retaining corporal punishment in the home are quick to emphasise that when it was made illegal for school teachers to punish children, school ‘ discipline rapidly worsened. Some teachers say that school discipline is probably the worst in Europe. “Pupils do exactly as they like, and we are powerless,” they say. Although the problem has been treated with banner headlines in the press, and on television, Dr. Per Selander, an expert on the subject, says the problem is not as widespread as many people have been led to believe.

“During the time I have worked in Malmo, 60,000 children have been born,” he says. “In the same period there have been six or seven cases of serious ill-treatment, or roughly one case in every 10,000 children.

“Of course, that is one case too many, and there may be many border cases of which we never hear, simply because people do not want to become involved.”

Dr. Selender notes that this is a general trend. The person who reports a neighbour to the police for suspected illtreatment of children, he says, may well find himself sued for libel or slander if a Court should decide that there was no ground for a conviction.

Any proposal to make the citizen legally bound to report suspected cases must therefore exclude this possibility, Mrs Lindstroem says. Another problem is the lack of investigators. When reports are received, it may be weeks before an investigation can be started. This increases the risk of lack of evidence and possible legal difficulties for the person who made the first report. Some politicians are convinced that the spate of cases recently is because of “over-sexualisation” of the Swedish community. “Promiscuity is rife and it is not always that young couples feel they should marry simply because the girl is pregnant. This means unfortunate and difficult living conditions for the mother, a factor which plays on her nerves and may lead to illtreatment of the child,” says Mr F. Hedin, of the Folk Party.