Call for non-violent care-giving

Policy to break the cycle of intergenerational conflict has been developed, will be presented to Cabinet next month

CHILDREN learn violence from a young age, often within their homes, so to create a more peaceful South Africa, experts warn that care-givers must stop spanking.

“Although harsher forms of physical punishment are more strongly associated with negative outcomes, even mild forms of physical punishment such as spanking can lead to increases in child aggression, delinquent and anti-social behaviour, and can have negative effects on child mental health,” Stefanie Rohrs from UCT and co-author of the 13th South African Child Gauge, said.

At the launch of the annual review yesterday in Johannesburg, Sonke Gender Justice’s Wessel van den Berg said “the normalisation of corporal punishment is a big problem in South Africa”.

While spanking is illegal in the country, it still occurs regularly alongside other forms of violence in the lives of children. This is according to the Child Gauge which was published by UCT’s Children Institute in partnership with Wits University and others.

The review noted that corporal punishment does not exist in a vacuum and is strongly associated with intimate partner violence and gender-based violence.

A February study found that virtually every single child surveyed in Soweto – 99% – have been exposed to “extreme forms of violence”.

Published in the SA Medical Journal, the research found that experiencing such high levels of violence at a young age can lead to a range of problems including poor mental health and problems at school.

But the issue does not only affect individuals; children who are exposed to violence are more likely to mature into violent adults.

Experts warned that gender inequality, income inequality and poverty are all drivers of violence within families and need to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

The Child Gauge noted the development of the Child Care and Protection Policy in December, which is scheduled to be presented to Cabinet for approval later this year.

This policy “recognises that many at-risk children are trapped in an intergenerational cycle” of violence and other risks, “and that government is currently not providing the developmental services necessary to address the risks and break the cycle”, wrote the Child Gauge authors.

But the policy recommends that criminal prosecution of parents who make use of corporal punishment be a last resort. Care-givers should instead be given access to “parenting programmes, which should promote positive discipline”.

Said Van den Berg: “The normalisation of non-violent parenting will go a long way in reducing the amount of violence we see.”

News | Healthe