Father fined for smacking son
‘Today’s fashion doesn’t want us to discipline children,’ says parent
A MAN has been fined €500 for smacking his nine-year-old son.
The president of the tribunal correctionnel in Limoges, Estelle Lamotte-Genet, ruled he had committed a violent act that was “humiliating for the child”.
Deputy prosecutor Jean-Paul Lescat told Le Populaire du Centre, the paper which revealed the story: “Thankfully, we are no longer in a time where parents and teachers can inflict physical punishment. It’s a bygone era.”
The boy’s mother will receive €150 in compensation.
The father told the court he had bared the child’s backside and struck him after he had not greeted him with “Bonjour” for several days.
He defended his actions and said he was living under “a current fashion that does not want us to discipline children.”
There is no law in France that specifically outlaws corporal punishment for children, unlike 22 other EU member states.
The law bans violence against children, but allows for a “right to discipline” by members of the family.
The charity Fondation pour l'Enfance launched a campaign in June to ban smacking and physical punishment of children.
The video, which has been found disturbing by many French TV viewers, is available here: youtube.com
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