Category: Uncategorized

Kat Lay Health Editor, Tuesday June 29 2021, The Times

Smacking children does not make them better behaved and is harmful, says a review of two decades of research.

It found that children subjected to physical punishment displayed increased behavioural problems, and that it was likely that smacking had caused the increase. This was true regardless of the child’s sex or ethnicity, or the family’s overall parenting style.

Studies did not find any improvement in children’s attention, cognitive abilities, relationships with others, reactivity to stress, social behaviour or social competence if they had been physically punished.

Experts said it was time for England and Northern Ireland to follow Scotland, Wales and 62 other countries by introducing an outright ban on physical punishment of children.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children are among groups that back a ban.

The paper’s lead author, Dr Anja Heilmann of the department of epidemiology and public health at University College London, said: “Physical punishment is ineffective and harmful, and has no benefits for children and their families. This could not be clearer from the evidence we present.”

The review, led by researchers at UCL and published in The Lancet, looked at 69 studies following children over time. The review searched for links between physical punishment and outcomes, including children’s behaviour, attention and relationships.

Heilmann said: “We see a definitive link between physical punishment and behavioural problems such as aggression and antisocial behaviour. Physical punishment consistently predicts increases in these types of behavioural difficulties. Even more worrying are findings that children who are the recipients of physical punishment are at increased risk of being subjected to more severe levels of violence.”

She said that physical punishment violated children’s rights and that countries should honour obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is clear that children should have the same protection against violence as adults.

“This means England and Northern Ireland should follow the example of Scotland and Wales and give children equal protection in law,” she said.

In England and Northern Ireland parents are not allowed to smack children unless it amounts to “reasonable punishment”, a measure that takes into account how old the child is and the force used. Any smack that leaves a mark such as a bruise or graze could mean a prosecution for assault.

Scotland and Wales removed the defence of reasonable punishment.

Professor Elizabeth Gershoff of the University of Texas at Austin, a senior author of the review, said: “Our research found clear and compelling evidence that physical punishment does not improve children’s behaviour but makes it worse.”

The studies looked at smacking, spanking and slapping. Researchers excluded severe forms of physical punishment such as hitting a child with an object, hitting them on the face or head, or washing out their mouths with soap.

Joanna Barrett, NSPCC associate head of policy, said: “It cannot be right that in 2021 children are the only group in society that it is legally acceptable to assault in England. The case for reform is beyond doubt.” She said Westminster was “behind the curve” and needed to give children in England the same protection as elsewhere in the UK.

THE LANCET: 

https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(21)00582-1.pdf

The International Assistance Mission (IAM) is a non-profit Christian development non-governmental organization working in Afghanistan since 1966. 

The ICDP programme was introduced to a team of health professionals at IAM who were trained during 2019, and after a break caused by the pandemic which lasted one year (2020), the training is now resuming in June2021. It is being organized and conducted by Fattah Najm and the participants are comprised of mental health professionals working at IAM, in the town of Herat.

The ICDP material was prepared for use at workshops – see some of the 8 ICDP guidelines below:

The first day care team to complete the ICDP training belongs to the St. Thomas day care in Hildesheim-Drispenstedt. On Saturday, 26^th of June, 18 colleagues received their certificates as ICDP Caregivers from their trainer Rita Crecelius.

Ana Vázquez-Zimmermann, the leader of St. Thomas, was part of the team who started to receive ICDP training on 23^rd of November 2020, -which was right in the middle of the lockdown. Restrictions caused by the pandemic meant that the dates of the training had to be postponed several times, but Ana never gave up – nor did her team. And in order to attend the last training session staff-members sacrificed their free weekend.

By following the 8 ICDP guidelines, the professional caregivers at St. Thomas became more and more aware of the value of their work and consequently they started to do it with more self-acceptance and mindfulness. Results of their efforts started to appear: Most of the team-members were able to observe positive changes in their relationships with the children. It transpired with increasing clarity that good and responsive interaction was immediately creating space for good development.

Ana Vázquez-Zimmermann is proud of her ICDP team – the first one in Germany. The certification ceremony provided a special moment for her. She said: “ICDP knowledge brings more awareness into the day care, more Being instead of Doing. This is valuable for both sides. When caregiver stress level decreases, the child starts to thrive.” Ana is already making plans for a refresher course to take place in November 2021. The day is set, and all are looking forward to the future ICDP journey at St. Thomas.

ICDP China has collected some stories from the caregivers who received the ICDP training – click here to read them.

Here is a story from Yang Yang:

“Before learning ICDP, as a mother of two children, I didn’t know how to prevent the children from fighting, nor how to teach them to put away their toys and do the housework they had agreed to do. Every morning it was so painful, because without constant reminders and fights it seems that they would not be able to leave the house in time for school. After school, they had homework, house chores and the inevitable quarreling. Before I learn ICDP, my “tips and tricks” included threats, yelling, and hitting. I did not like this method, and neither did the children. And this method does not work! I threaten, yelled, and hit them repeatedly for the same unruly behavior. I constantly found myself yelling at the children: “I have said it a hundred times, put away your toys! Hurry up and do your homework!” When I was eating, I was so frustrated, because I repeated it a hundred times before I could even realize that my method did not work…

Through studying (ICDP), I discovered that these problems are not my children’s problems, but my problems! Now I use what I have learned from ICDP about raising my children. I try to let them do their homework independently and give encouragement. I patiently ask the child what happened at school and how they are doing, trying to start an intimate conversation. When I leave the house, I want to treat the children as independent people, let them do homework by themselves, and let my son help his sister with her homework if she needs assistance. When I am cooking, if my daughter wants to join in cutting vegetables; I try follow the child’s initiative and give her a small knife to help me cut the potatoes. I also provide explanations for the many strange questions my son asks me. When my child helps me move flowers and plants, we pay attention to the formation of a leaf… Just like Chairman Wu said: “In fact, ICDP is everywhere in life”, it is just that I have lacked patience and understanding for my children! After studying, I discovered that my children have a lot of good sides, but I only wanted them to do things my way. I did not empathize with my children! Now I am slowly changing. After changing myself, the children will change, and the situation at home will also change! I will continually be using what I have learned!”.

Alla Magidson is an ICDP trainer who helped start a kindergarten in Haifa in 2009. The kindergarten is affiliated to the Mofet institute in Haifa and it is still operational. The Mofet institute Home Page – MOFET International – (macam.ac.il) is a consortium of Israeli colleges of education and it is  working on improving the quality of education in the country in general. Its mission is to serve as a professional meeting-place and to facilitate a dialogue among colleagues both in teacher education and in other settings in the education system.

Alla worked at the kindergarten without interruption for 12 years until 2019, and during that time she was using the ICDP programme and principles in her daily work with children, as well as running courses for parents and caregivers.

In 2019 and 2020 she continued her involvement as consultant offering advice and providing assistance whenever problems arose, either with children or in interactions between the kindergarten staff. Moreover, Alla also supported a number of families who sought her assistance with different problems related to children.

Alla was trained in ICDP over twenty years ago. At that time, she was living in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, where she was instrumental in spreading ICDP to many cities, by working with parents and professionals from different care networks for children. When she moved to Israel, she took ICDP with her and has been putting it into practice ever since.

ICDP has been present in the country ever since its registration in 2000.  ICDP Sweden http://www.icdp.se/) continues to be very active under current chairperson Annelie Waldau, with the ICDP programme being used by a whole range of networks and professional groups. 

During 2020, in the absence of physical meetings due to the corona virus restrictions, ICDP Sweden’s recommendation to its nationwide network was to start both educational and guidance groups via digital platforms. 

The policy was that each educator and guide should follow general advice and regulations that apply both nationally and locally. The ICDP training courses were organized over four full days. The first two training days were conducted digitally via Zoom and the other two days were held in person. The Foundation believes that training can be conducted digitally by using a system that is stable and works well with several participants.