Section 43 of the Criminal Code

900 Words4 Pages
Section 43 of the Criminal Code is a very controversial topic in today’s society. This section states that “Every schoolteacher, parent or person standing in the place of a parent is justified in using force by way of correction toward a pupil or child, as the case may be, who is under his care, if the force does not exceed what is reasonable in the circumstances.” A different summary of this section would state that it instead offers any school teacher, parents or person acting in the place of a parent a cover up to their actions, when they use excessive force on a child as a form of discipline. This essay will discuss the reasons why section 43 should be removed and how the Supreme Court’s ruling and interpretation from 2004 could potentially cause much confusion among parents and teachers now a days .In order to prove this, the following will be looked at; the effects that spanking produces on children, court cases in relation to the spanking law, the past proposal by the Canadian Foundation of Children, Youth and the Law, the Supreme Court’s interpretation and final decision on S.43 and a case and examples that demonstrate the confusion of Section 43. Parents don’t realize the emotional damages that a child goes through when they spank them. Not only do chid activists believe the spanking law should be abolished doctors believe it to."It is time for Canada to remove this anachronistic excuse for poor parenting from the statute book," (Fletcher). When a doctor recognizes that this law is obscure and can create problems to children, it is obvious that there is something wrong. Some of the emotional damages a child will go through when being spanked may include; instilled fear of their parents, participating in antisocial behavior. Children are often hit for aggressive behaviors and antisocial behavior. Not only are parents sending a hypocritical message, “I’m
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