No Work for Knecht Ruprecht

Tonight, children in Germany will put their shoes outside their doors, in the hope that Saint Nikolaus will come and fill them with sweet treats. If they have been naughty they might well be worried that instead of Saint Nikolaus, Knecht Ruprecht will visit them with his birch rod and… do what?

Originally a stroke from the birch was supposed to be a blessing and bring health and fortune. But over time, parents looking for some support in disciplining children turned the stroke into a spank as punishment for little sins. 

While most Germans resort to the threat of mystical creatures coming to give their children a smacking, South Africans are a lot more practical: they simply do it themselves.

Spanking children is very common and when you tell South Africans that you object to violence to educate children, they look confused and don’t really understand what you mean. No slaps? How else would you possibly discipline children?

With that in mind, it should not come as surprise that a recent proposal to “ban corporal punishment” was met with anger and opposition. After an initial attempt failed due to fierce opposition from cultural, religious and civil society groups, the Children’s Rights Project has once again called upon the Department of Social Development to protect children from domestic abuse and violence. But once again, opponents were quick to criticise the proposal:

The Congress of Traditional Leader of South Africa questioned “what the alternatives are to ensure that children behave” and a spokeswoman of the Inkatha Freedom Party stated that “the legislation will serve to ruin stable families”. Some questionable Christian leaders have publicly claimed that according to the Old Testament “parents do not only have the right, but the duty to beat their children” (they did not comment whether they would like to see other customs of the Old Testament, like slavery and warfare as a way of solving problems, to be reintroduced as well).

Many South Africans believe that “most people were spanked as children and are perfectly peaceful citizens”. And it seems that even children do not object to being smacked. A survey conducted among 700 middle school students found that the majority have been physically disciplined and while initially hurt, later on felt happy and proud to have endured it.

The researchers further found that especially boys had a high acceptance of violence as a necessary tool. In a country where violent crime is already extremely high, teaching children at home that violence is an acceptable solution to conflict is unlikely to create a more peaceful generation. 

South African children better behave themselves – it doesn’t look like their parents have any intention of resorting to threats of annual visits from mystical creatures to give their children a good smacking...