"This will hurt me more than it will hurt you".

• Author: Winterdyk, John
• Position: FEATURE on Criminal Law - Children and discipline, law and regulations

He that spareth the rod, hateth his son; but he that loves him, chastises him betimes--Withhold not correction from the child; for thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.

--Solomon's dicta

As parents or caregivers, when children are unruly or acting inappropriately, we may find ourselves in positions where our frustrations get the better of us and we might react with that old fashioned discipline, often reminiscent of our own upbringings.

Is this still considered permissible practice?

This is not just an interesting question we might ask ourselves in moments of introspection, but one that was recently placed before the courts.

The values and traditions supporting past disciplinary practices were seldom questioned until research into the subject was stimulated ill the 1950s, as well as with the emergence of progressive child care pieces (e.g., John Dewy and Dr Benjamin Spock) which called for greater permissiveness towards children and the redefining of what constitutes fair and reasonable discipline/punishment. But, by the late 1960s, public sentiment shifted back towards a less lenient stance concerning children and a call for their greater accountability, which in turn meant stricter enforcement of adult/child boundaries.

Arguably, this stance has recently garnered support from the courts. In this article, we propose to critically examine the use of corporal punishment, in particular, as it relates to the 2004 Supreme Court of Canada ruling concerning section 43 of the Canadian Criminal Code (Canadian Foundation for Children, Youth and the Law v. Canada).

Corporal punishment is a broad term that refers to a punitive form of (physical) discipline by which to exercise social control. Grounded in a rationale of psychological and sociological processes, corporal punishment relies on a high degree of emotional responsiveness between the disciplinarian and the disciplined. Ill a classical theorist context, this is based on the principle that punishment is intended to result in the recipient experiencing a sense of guilt and/or shame and, consequently, choosing to avoid future behaviours that could result in such negative results. Again, within the classical context, in order for the punishment to be effective (to ensure compliance) it must be swift, just, fair, and proportionate to the offence. Spanking is, therefore, just one example. Though debatable, spanking has been an acceptable practice in contemporary North American history. Only in more recent years has its use received considerable attention from various groups including families and school boards. More precisely (and arguably--more controversially) legal discussion has surrounded limiting or outlawing this practice altogether. This attention has, therefore, extended beyond ideological debates between social groups regarding individual/familial disciplinary beliefs. It has now permeated the legal realm...