Liberal Road Blog Individual Freedom and Equality

I run into this article today. A school in New Zealand has found an inventive way to bypass laws forbidding teachers from hitting students: it asks parents to do the hitting instead (it’s not illegal for parents to use corporal punishment).

I believe corporal punishment is an unacceptable way to try to teach children. Corporal punishment by parents should be illegal as well. Allowing corporal punishment of children is the same as saying children don’t have basic human rights.

Unfortunately corporal punishment is forbidden in only a few countries as I’ve written in an earlier post.

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The news that a Russian hospital taped the mouths of small babies to stop them from crying
has created a scandal in Russia (see link for a picture). The hospital staff allegedly did it so that babies cry wouldn’t bother them as the hospital lacked staff.

This news raises the question of what rights babies and children should have. I personally believe that taping the mouth of babies is unacceptable. It is hard to understand why children shouldn’t have rights when adults have them.

If it is not okay to tape the mouth of an adult why would it be okay to tape the mouth of a baby?

I think it’s the same thing with corporal punishment of children by their parents (for example smacking): We are not allowed to hit an adult as a punishment even if he behaves in a disturbing way or does bad things so why should we be allowed to hit a child?

Unfortunately only 16 countries have laws forbidding completely the hitting of children. Sweden was the first country in 1979.

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