New evidence for the retention of corporal punishment in a range of disciplinary measures

Jul 09, 2008 Letters

Dear Editor,
Quite apart from the astonishingly immature and naive outbursts from Mr. Hackett in the local press recently, we had recalled the astonishing details offered by Wittrock (1979) … see online “THE CASE FOR CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IN GUYANA” … as he recorded the 519% increase in child-on-child assaults and crime in the 20 years following Sweden’s decision to ban corporal punishment.

Now comes new and alarming figures out of Britain that validate Wittrock’s findings and we ignore them at our peril. We now point to some of the factual evidence available (excerpts follow each citation below):

EVIDENCE 1
“Thousands of crimes by under-10s”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6974587.stm
Date: Sunday, September 2, 2007
The BBC

“Almost 3,000 crimes were reported last year where the suspect was too young to be prosecuted, the BBC has learned. Figures show about 1,300 incidents of criminal damage and arson, and more than 60 sex offences where suspects were under-10s in England and Wales.

If a child is nine or under, he or she cannot be charged with an offence but there are calls for the age of criminal responsibility to be lowered. The figures are based on data from 32 of the 43 forces in England and Wales. Lawrence Lee, who was solicitor for Jon Venables, one of two 10-year-olds who murdered two-year-old James Bulger in 1993, said lowering the age of criminal responsibility would send an important message to child offenders.

He added: “As a defence lawyer I would say no; it wouldn’t be a good thing. But if I wear my citizen’s hat, I would say if you go along to any estate and see the age of kids marauding around like a pack of wolves, you’d see that reducing the age of criminal responsibility to eight or nine would be vital.”

EVIDENCE 2:
“Almost all children aged 10-15 are victims of crime”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2007/oct/10/crime.law1
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
The Guardian

“Being a victim of crime is now the norm for most children in Britain, according to research that reveals that 95% of 10 to 15-year-olds in the country have experienced crime at least once. A survey by the Howard League for Penal Reform of more than 3,000 children found that almost three-quarters had been assaulted over the previous year, and that two-thirds had been victims of theft. More than half the children had seen their property deliberately damaged, while others reported threats or verbal abuse. The study, entitled “Children as Victims: Child-sized Crimes in a Child-sized World”, found the majority of incidents occurred in schools and playgrounds, with much of the rest being between school and home. But children were unlikely to report incidents to police or teachers because they felt those adults would not be interested.

“The wave of mainly low-level, child-on-child crime revealed by the research suggests that government figures might have significantly underestimated the level of crime experienced by young people. According to the 2003 Home Office Crime and Justice Survey, only 35% of children aged 10-15 years had experienced at least one crime in the previous year.”

The answer to this sad situation, mind you, is found at the bottom half of page 6 of “THE CASE FOR CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IN GUYANA”, found online at http://www.scribd.com/doc/255891/THE-CASE-FOR-CORPORAL-PUNISHMENT-IN-GUYANA

Mr. Hackett may be experiencing a second childhood, complete with the woeful idealism and ideological confusion of adolescence, but where matters of social policy are concerned, his trite, flippant and usually unreferenced arguments are no substitute for common sense regarding corporal punishment.

Roger Williams

Latest News

New evidence for the retention of corporal punishment in a range of disciplinary measures

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show|| April, 11th, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Minister Ramson hails Harpy Eagles Championship team following return...

GFF hosted first Referee Introductory Course for...

Ninvalle congratulates Harpy Eagles on West...

Wharton’s weighty five inspires Chase...

Vryman’s Erven Secondary wins inaugural...

Pele FC Alumni Corp. 2025 Youth Development...

Features/Columnists

The theatre of protest and the death of reason

Collaborative Government–Private Sector Action Imperative for a Resilient Trade Future

Resign or be removed

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]

New evidence for the retention of corporal punishment in a range of disciplinary measures

Share this:

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show|| April, 11th, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]