Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/281887
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 23 MARCH 2014 10 News 'Children should be seen but not hurt' 'SPARE the rod and spoil the child' is a well-known expression, and until not long ago it was interpreted quite literally in schools, private homes and care institutions all over the country (and arguably all over the world). Times have however changed, and following various recent legal amendments the expression has now been demoted to a largely proverbial level. Corporal punishment in Mal- tese schools was discontinued (of- ficially, at least) when Malta ratified the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child in 1990: making those of us born before the 1980s the last of many long-suffering generations to have endured 'the stick' – usually in the form of a wooden ruler struck across the palm of the hand – or 'the fish', as the leather strap favoured by some schools was affectionately known. But for many years afterwards it remained unclear whether corporal punishment was specifically prohib- ited at law, or whether schools had simply changed their disciplinary procedures in accordance with the Convention. There was no explicit ban under Article 62 of the Educa- tion Act 1988 (amended 2006), at least until this situation was rectified by a legal amendment last Monday. And the situation was even less clear in domestic settings. Despite a clear prohibition of physical violence upon children in the Domestic Vio- lence Act, there was a widespread perception that the ban on corporal punishment applied only to schools, and not to the discipline of children at home. More worryingly still, there is com- pelling evidence to suggest that this same ban on corporal punishment (whether or not explicitly laid down at law) was only viewed as applicable in cases where the punishment actu- ally resulted in bodily harm. And in its submissions to the UN Commit- tee for the Rights of the Child five years ago, the Maltese government appeared to echo this sentiment. 'Reasonable chastisement' In 2009 the UN urged Malta to amend Article 336 in order to, "Ex- plicitly and entirely prohibit any kind of corporal punishment of children This week Malta finally banned corporal punishment after a long legal limbo. But as RAPHAEL VASSALLO discovers, not everyone may have welcomed the news Ferlas: former students from the Jesuit-run St Aloysius College will recall a form of corporal punishment that did not involved the cane, but the "ferula" or "ferlas", a strip of lead or even whale bone covered in leather, administered on one hand. Hand-numbing punishments generated a life-long fear of the whip. Caning: caning was a form of corporal punishment that was generally administered in various schools up until the 1990s, usually applied to the hands and even buttocks, or in some cases, the knuckles. Birching: a corporal punishment with a birch rod, typically applied to the recipient's bare buttocks, although occasionally to the back and/or shoulders. It was the most common school and judicial punishment in Europe up to the mid-19th century, when caning gained increasing popularity. DAYS OF PUNISHMENT PAST