Difference between revisions of "Children and the Law (3:XII)"

The ''Criminal Code'' (s 43) allows a parent, a person standing in the place of a parent, or a school teacher to discipline a child, by way of correction, provided that only reasonable force is used. However, section 76(3) of the ''School Act'', RSBC 1996, c 412 requires that teachers ensure the discipline is similar to that of a kind, firm, and judicious parent, and must not include the use of corporal punishment.  

The Supreme Court of Canada examined s 43 in ''Canadian Foundation for Children, Youth and the Law v. Canada'', [2004] SCC 4, 16 C.R. (6th) 203. The Court held that section 43 does not violate the constitutional rights of children. The discipline must be “by way of correction” meaning “only sober, reasoned uses of force that address the actual behaviour of the child and are designed to restrain, control or express some symbolic disapproval of his or her behaviour” (para 24). Furthermore, the Court provided a comprehensive definition of “reasonable force”:  

Generally, section 43 exempts from criminal sanction only minor corrective force of a transitory and trifling nature. On the basis of current expert consensus, it does not apply to corporal punishment of children under two or teenagers. Degrading, inhuman or harmful conduct is not protected. Discipline by the use of objects or blows or slaps to the head is unreasonable. Teachers may reasonably apply force to remove a child from a classroom or secure compliance with instructions, but not merely as corporal punishment. Coupled with the requirement that the conduct be corrective, which rules out conduct stemming from the caregiver's frustration, loss of temper or abusive personality, a consistent picture emerges of the area covered.