By Andrea Jade O. Geronga
MANILA, May 8 (PNA) — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Save the Children, urged parents on Friday to practice positive parenting instead of excessive methods of discipline in helping their children develop to their full potential.
According to DSWD Secretary Corazon J. Soliman, positive parenting is all about respecting children’s dignity, their right to development, participation and protection.
As such, the DSWD chief strongly advocates such method instead of corporal punishment citing that it has been proven by many studies to have caused more damage to children’s psyche than any other pressures in society.
“We are here to stand by our children to protect them from unnecessary violence in their own homes to ensure that they are cared for and molded in a more positive approach,” Soliman said.
She added that the negative approach which is battering of children in extreme cases leads to weakening of adult-children relationship.
Margaret Sheehan, UNICEF Deputy Representative (AI) and Chief of Field Operations, also said corporal punishment is not effective, hurts children and is against children’s right and well being.
Sheehan added that using the negative approach has many consequences physically, emotionally and mentally.
She pointed out that there is association between corporal punishment, mental health problems and physical abuse.
“A Filipino study on parents who abuse their children verbally… showed that those children suffered mental health problems. They had feelings of rejection, depression, low self worth, sometimes even fatigue and not being able to cope,” she added.
In the 2011 Pulse Asia survey, it revealed that 2 in 3 Filipino parents said they practice corporal punishment as their disciplinary method.
This includes pinching, pulling of ears, whipping with belt and the most prevalent method, spanking the bottom and other parts of the body.
Save the Children Country Director Ned Olney stressed that corporal punishment kills thousands of children every year, has injured and handicapped many more and is a significant factor in the development of violent behavior.
Olney cited difference between punishment and discipline.
“Discipline is educating a child while punishment, on the other hand, is meant to inflict pain,” Olney said.
In 2005, Save the Children conducted a study in the Philippines revealing that 85 percent of the surveyed Filipino children said they were punished at home and of those surveyed, 82 percent said they were hit on different parts of the body. (PNA)