Senator wants ban on spanking
Posted Jan 5, 2011 04:41:41 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A Liberal Senator has proposed a ban on spanking.
Celine Hervieux-Payette has tabled bill S-204 which would repeal Section 43 of the Criminal Code.
Section 43 allows teachers or parents or a person standing in the place of a parent to use force as a means of discipline “if the force does not exceed what is reasonable under the circumstances.”
Brian Lilley, Senior Correspondent with the Sun Media’s National Bureau tells 570’s Jeff Allan removing that section could open parents up to similar punishment. He says the bill wants parent-child relationships to be like those of adult relationships, which doesn’t necessarily work from a discipline stand point.
Lilley says we already have effective measures in place to protect children from abuse.
A 2004 the Supreme Court made it illegal for teachers to spank kids, but ruled that they could use force to remove children from classrooms or other situations. This bill would also make it illegal for them to do that.
Hervieux-Payette says her goal is to educate parents and guardians, rather than punish them.
