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SCMP Reporter

High use of corporal punishment  in the home spurs call for action

Nearly half of all parents have admitted meting out corporal punishment to their children - prompting a call for a law banning the use of physical force as a disciplinary measure.

In a survey commissioned by the Social Welfare Department, 44 per cent of parents admitted using corporal punishment at least once, while 10 per cent said they had resorted to more severe beatings.

Corporal punishment includes spanking a child on the bottom with a bare hand, slapping a hand, arm or leg, and pinching and shaking.

Severe beating includes slapping the face, hitting various body parts with a hard object, throwing or knocking down the child, and hitting the child hard with a fist.

Thirty-two per cent of parents said they had administered corporal punishment in the past year, while 6 per cent admitted giving more severe beatings.

A total of 5,049 adults and 2,062 children, aged between 12 and 17, were interviewed from November 2003 to August 2004 for the survey.

It also estimated that only 1 per cent of child abuse cases were reported, out of about 70,000 cases a year. In 2004, only 622 cases were reported.

'It is the tip of the iceberg and the result shows [the use of] corporal punishment is much more severe than expected,' said survey organiser Edward Chan Ko-ling,  of the University of Hong Kong.

'A ban on all kinds of corporal punishment should be legislated.'

Last month, a 10-year-old boy died after he was found inside a suitcase at his home, and an eight-year-old girl fell to her death after corporal punishment.

'It is time to ban all corporal punishment on children,' said Priscilla Lui Tsang Sun-kai,  director of welfare organisation Against Child Abuse.  'We don't want to wait for another tragedy.'

Hong Kong law prohibits teachers and supervisors from using corporal punishment  in  schools and childcare centres. However, it is not prohibited  at home, which experts say may convey a message that parents have the right to physically punish their children.

Mr Chan warned there was no clear line between corporal punishment and child abuse. He said many parents did not have a clear idea about what kind of punishment actually amounted to assault.

'Don't ignore minor assaults like spanking children or shaking them,' he said, 'If it happened once, it will happen again and become  more and more violent.'

He said society's tolerance of corporal punishment was one reason for child abuse tragedies, as traditionally Chinese culture endorses the belief that physical punishment can teach children to behave.

Ms Lui urged the government to provide intervention programmes and more treatment courses for abusive parents. 'Our purpose is to prevent physical punishment at home, not just blame abusive parents and put them in jail,' she said.



Nearly half of parents hit children, study shows