Britain is in the midst of a heated debate over criminally banning parents from using spanking as a form of disciplining their children. In the U.S., one state has banned it, others have tried banning it, and parents have been arrested for it and had their children seized. The United Nations is seeking a worldwide ban.
But now, Pope Francis has stepped perhaps unwittingly into this debate with what seemed like a throwaway comment at the end of a speech on fatherhood.
During his General Audience Wednesday, the Pope praised fathers who “know how to correct with firmness” that are not weak or complacent. As is his custom, Francis used a real-life example of a father he knew who said that he’d spanked his children, but never in the face so as to retain their dignity. “How beautiful,” the Pope exclaimed.
Francis explained that the father retained the child’s sense of dignity, that he must correct his children, do it justly and move on.
The remark sparked coverage in thousands of outlets and drew attention to the Catholic Church’s stance on a matter most would have associated with Biblical fundamentalists and the famed line from Proverbs: “Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.”
Monsignor Charles Pope of the Archdiocese of Washington explains in a recent blog post the Catholic take on corporal punishment.
“Too many people today think that punishment is the same as vengeance,” he says. It’s not to be about “exacting revenge” or “venting anger” and if there is some of that in parents use of discipline that’s not right. Rather, he says, “the purpose of punishment is to allow the one punished to experience the negative effects of bad behavior in a small way, so that he does not experience the bad effects in a far worse way.” So, for example, smacking a child’s hand away form a hot stove.
Despite the outrage from some over spanking, the American public is still firmly in support of a parent’s right to choose spanking as a form of discipline. According to an October Reuters poll, 68 percent of American adults are fine with spanking children at home.
In fact, research has suggested that the use of judicious spanking has benefits for children. A 2010 study headed by Dr. Marjorie Gunnoe, professor of Psychology at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan found that children who had been physically disciplined between the ages of 2 and 6 grew up to be happier and more successful, performed better at school as teens, were more likely to do volunteer work and want to go to university than those who had never been spanked.
The American College of Pediatricians (ACP) states that disciplinary spanking by parents can be effective when properly used. “It is clear that parents should not solely rely upon disciplinary spanking to accomplish control of their child’s behavior,” says the organization’s position statement. “Evidence suggests that it can be a useful and necessary part of a successful disciplinary plan.”
But public opinion and research have had little effect on determined legislators and opinionated judges. When Delaware effectively banned spanking in 2012, they did it by redefining “physical injury” to include any act that causes “pain.” Thus, the majority-supported concept that parents could face jail time for inflicting physical injury on their children became the threat of jail for parents if they cause their children physical pain via spanking.
Even though in Texas the law does not prohibit spanking, a mother had her three children taken from her and was sentenced to five years probation for spanking her two year old daughter. “You don’t spank children today,” said Judge Jose Longoria of Corpus Christi’s 214th District Court in his 2011 ruling. “In the old days, maybe we got spanked, but there was a different quarrel. You don’t spank children.”
Rosalina Gonzales’ children were placed in the custody of their paternal grandmother who made the complaint to police about the spanking, until the Department of Family and Protective Services determined she was ready to have them back.
For Pope Francis and the Catholic Church, the whole notion of the loving nature of punishment is a big deal. It’s the rationale for God’s allowance of much of the suffering on earth. As Monsignor Charles Pope explains: God “will allow or inflict pain so that we avoid the pain caused by our bad behavior spiralling downward into far more serious matters, and the far worse pain of eternal Hell.”