France Has Banned Spanking

Well, it’s official. Spanking your children is outlawed in 52 countries. The latest country to jump on board? France. Because forget worrying about– you know, Actual Terrorists. Parents discipling their bratty kids is the REAL threat these days.

France passed the “Equality and Citizenship” bill right before the new year, on Dec. 22. The law prohibits “any cruel, degrading or humiliating punishment, including any use of physical violence.”

The decision of the French parliament follows a symbolic reprimand by the Council of Europe in 2015 decrying France’s lack of a specific law “prohibiting corporal punishment in a clear, binding and precise way, including slaps and spankings, in breach of Article 17 of the European Charter of Social Rights.”

 

“To comply with Article 17, states’ domestic law must prohibit and penalize all forms of violence against children,” the Charter states, and the relevant provisions “must be sufficiently clear, binding and precise, so as to preclude the courts from refusing to apply them to violence against children.”

They’re basing this new law on “expert” advice from top psychologists, who say spanking is ineffective.

Dr. Gustavo Pietropolli Charmet, a psychiatrist and chairman of the Italian non-profit Help Center for Mistreated Children, said that laws prohibiting corporal punishment are useful because it has become clear that “the educational value of physical and moral pain is zero.”

 

Suffering “does not strengthen education and does not improve self-esteem,” Charmet said. “In fact, it can create guilt, fear and vengeance.”

I beg to differ. A pop on the butt isn’t “child abuse.” I was spanked from time to time as a kid. I survived. It taught me a simple concept: When you don’t follow the rules, there are consequences. However, I was more responsive to different tactics, like “timeouts.” Timeouts KILLED me as a kid. Ten minutes felt like 93 hours. As I got older, my parents switched it up. When I was a teenager, I got into the bratty habit of slamming my door. I’ll never forget my dad’s response. He walked into my room and took my door off the hinges, right before my eyes. I was doorless for two days. I never slammed my door again. (Sometime I’ll tell you guys about how my dad would take away my red Motorola RAZR and stick it in his living room gun safe as a form of punishment. He’d deliberately leave my phone on so I could hear the incoming texts that I couldn’t respond to. It was TORTURE.  Pray for my future children. I have a bunch of fun stuff up my sleeve. Thanks mom and dad!)

Anyway, spanking. Officials basically say this is a form of child abuse, which is ridiculous.

Check out what Marta Santos Pais, a U.N. “expert” on the issue, had to say about France’s move.

“It lays the foundation for a culture of respect for children‘s rights; safeguards children’s dignity and physical integrity; and encourages positive discipline and education of children through non-violent means.”

Good grief. A swift hit on the rear isn’t going to destroy a child’s dignity and physical integrity. That’s the biggest load of BS I’ve ever heard.

My final take is pretty simple. All kids are different. Spanking is effective on some and useless on others. Some children are more sensitive and would be devastated by a slap on the rear. Others are super brats who probably need that AND a timeout. Know your kid and discipline accordingly. Simple as that.

Too bad parents in France can’t do that anymore without, y’know, being accused of child abuse.