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A new law awaiting approval in China would ban parents from using physical or psychological violence to teach their children how to behave, bringing the country in line with dozens of others. Photo: Shutterstock

Hitting or scolding your child will soon be illegal in China, but will the new law stick?

  • Parents in China will no longer be allowed to use physical or psychological violence to teach their children how to behave, under a soon-to-be-passed law
  • However, a parent and an academic question how well the law will be implemented. Police have had trouble enforcing an earlier ban on corporal punishment

China will soon join dozens of other countries in banning parents from spanking their children.

While corporal punishment was outlawed in China in 1986, the practice remains widespread, particularly in rural areas. A new family education law prohibits the use of violence to “educate” children on how to behave. The law is awaiting approval by China’s top legislative body, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee.

Authorities have until now struggled to implement the 1986 law. Families have argued that they are only hitting their offspring to teach them how to behave, reflecting long-held views about child-rearing.

“Spare the rod, spoil the child” is still a mantra many parents in China live by, believing that if they do not discipline an unruly child, they will grow up to become a spoiled brat.

Many parents in China claim they discipline their children to educate them. Photo: Shutterstock

In one recent case, in January 2020, neighbours reported to police the abuse of a five-year-old boy in Nanning, a city in Guangxi near the Vietnamese border. The boy was covered in deep scars from the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father, a single parent, according to a Nanning TV report.

In front of police and members of The Women’s Federation, the boy’s father admitted the abuse and promised it would not happen again.

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Once passed, the law will mean China will join nearly 60 other jurisdictions in the world that have made it illegal to hit children.

Jiang Jiehua, an associate professor in law from Shanghai University, said people should understand that the new law would not tolerate any form of violence against children – including scolding, forcing them to kneel in front of parents, or keeping them locked in closed spaces to reflect on their behaviour.

“Otherwise, neighbours or the children themselves will call [the] police and parents might go to jail or lose their guardianship rights, as happens in Western countries,” he said.

In the past, families have said they only hit their children to teach them how to behave. Photo: Shutterstock

The issue of corporal punishment for children sparks fierce debate online in China, with articles about the topic having been read 470 million times on Weibo, the country’s Twitter-like service, and attracted 30,000 comments.

“Spoiling the child means killing them. For some mischievous kids, it’s impossible to educate them if you don’t beat them up,” wrote one Weibo commentator.

Another wrote: “I remember when I was a child, my mother at first disciplined me by telling me the facts and reasons but I just didn’t listen to her or couldn’t understand. But once she hit me, I instantly behaved well.”

Using violence to discipline kids is a long tradition in China ... Even now, many people still follow this tradition. So this new law will bring substantial changes to China’s parenting style
Jiang Jiehua, an associate professor in law from Shanghai University

It’s a view that critics claim is out of date.

“It’s an outdated viewpoint that a kid will not grow up into a good man if his parents don’t spank him [for his mistakes]. Those without patience or a correct world view do not deserve to be a parent,” one opponent of corporal punishment commented.

Zhang Ruiqiu, a Shanghai mother with a seven-year-old son, said she knew it wasn’t right to scream at or spank her son, but felt unable to control her anger when she saw how much time he wasted playing video games instead of reading books or doing his homework.

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“Many Chinese parents, like me, have to work. I don’t have so much time and energy to discipline my naughty boy [without beating him]. It’s too exhausting,” Zhang said. “This new law provides a good direction. But I doubt whether it can be implemented well.”

The draft law also stipulates that parents or legal guardians should not discriminate against juveniles on the grounds of their gender or physical condition, and should not induce, teach, allow, or use the children to do anything illegal, Xinhua reported.

However, its report did not disclose what penalties would be handed down to those who break the law.

Jiang said while there were already laws in place to protect juveniles against violence, it was difficult for authorities to identify and prosecute offenders because many parents claimed they were disciplining their children to educate them.

“Using violence to discipline kids is a long tradition in China. In the feudal society, the son [needed his father’s consent for everything],” Jiang told the Post. “Even now, many people still follow this tradition. So this new law will bring substantial changes to China’s parenting style.”

Neighbours have called police occasionally because a child is being beaten by a parent next door. Photo: Shutterstock

Jiang believes it will take time for people in China to accept the new law.

“Before the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949, people’s marriages were arranged by their parents. Then the government abrogated this practice. It took many years for people to understand they now had to look for partners themselves,” said Jiang.

“Under a feudal society, parents allowed their private tutors to hit their kids’ palms if they didn’t study well. But in the current era, teachers at schools are not allowed to carry out any corporal punishment. It takes time to change people’s minds.”

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