Thoughts on Brazil's Proposed Anti-Spanking Law

When I first heard of Brazil's proposed "spanking law" back in 2010, I was furious. What right did the government have in interfering in the discipline practiced in homes? Now that I've done a little more reading, including a look at the bill itself, I'm reconsidering. Still, reservations remain.

According to a recent article in Época, the law itself doesn't actually prohibit corporal punishment, at least in the sense that there would be punishments for parents using this method without injuring a child. What it does is create a permanent awareness campaign on the part of the governent at all levels. It would promote alternative methods of discipline and aim to make society more aware of the rights of children and adolescents.

In serious cases, wherein children are taken to the emergency room for domestic violence, the law would call for children and parents to be sent in for counseling. Another aspect of the law would require educational professionals to report suspected cases of abuse, something that is already an obligation under Brazilian law. The difference is that now fines would be applied in the case of failure of professionals to report.

If the above is true, as I believe it is, I have no particular problem with it. Spanking is something that served my family well when my children were small, and we never caused actual harm to our children. There are alternative methods to discipline children that can be very effective as well. The keys to any method being successful, it seems to me, are consistency, fairness and moderation.

First, always disciple children the same way for the same misbehavior, unless there are extenuating circumstances.

Second, never discipline a child in anger or fail to explain to the child why she is being correct.

Third, only apply discipline when it seems clearly necessary. Frequent discipline becomes meaningless, when applied in situations that are trivial.

My main reservation with the proposed law is that it seems a little unnecessary. Laws against domestic violence and child abuse already exist, and an ongoing campaign will certainly be expensive.

I'm including the full text of the proposed law below, in Portuguese. The opinions, in English or Portuguese, are welcome in the comments from any who can read it.

*Note to Brazilian readers: "Spanking" in English refers to "palmada" or "apanhar," not "espancar."