There is a new viral video of a three-year-old boy being beaten by the live in partner of his mother. In that video, the live in partner is seen kicking the boy’s body and even stomping on his head. The live in partner has been arrested and is now facing criminal charges under Republic Act 7610 (Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act). When interviewed, the suspect claimed that her acts were just a means of disciplining the child. Although a large majority of netizens have condemned the suspect, there is a small number of people who point out that sometimes physical force in the form of spanking, slapping or paddling is needed to properly discipline a child.
For those part of the older generations, the concept of physical punishment is part of our upbringing. Many of us have felt the sting of slippers and sticks or the open hand. Despite that most of our parents knew the limits of corporal punishment. Today, our laws allow a modicum of corporal punishment in our homes but have drawn specific guidelines for the same. There is now a clear line where discipline ends and child abuse begins.
In the case at hand, it must be first stressed that the suspect is not technically a parent nor even a legal guardian under the law. Hence, the suspect has no disciplinary prerogative. This is an important distinction because a lot of child abuse cases reported are perpetrated by live in partners with no legal authority over the children. Often, the perpetrators and sadly the parents of the children use the discipline angle to defend themselves.
Second, the legal threshold for child abuse has been clearly set. Corporal punishment must be reasonable, moderate in degree and commensurate with the child’s alleged misbehavior. The key is apparent intent which is discipline. In cases such as this where the apparent intent is to inflict harm because of anger at the mother or other events in general then clearly this is abuse and not discipline. In addition, when the acts debase, degrade or demeans a child then again that is crossing the line. There is no universe where kicking a child’s head and lower back can be treated as moderate in intensity. The sight of the child covering his head, curling up like a ball, and trying to cry quietly are signs of learned behavior possibly due to repeated assaults. If this behavior indicates a series of similar actions then that is clearly abuse again.
Clearly, the suspect can be charged for child abuse and in fact the parent of the child should be charged as well for allowing this tragedy to occur.
There are studies that allege that for the past few years around 800,000 Filipino children have suffered severe physical abuse in the guise of discipline which involved choking, burning and excessive beating that required hospitalization.
Though eliminating physical punishment may be a hard sell for Filipinos, It is evident that clearer safeguards against child abuse at home must be implemented.
