FIJI does not need corporal punishment but responsible parenting and discipline to guide children, says Jai Narayan College deputy head girl Hefrani Matavou.
Making her submission to the Special Committee on the Constitution (Amendment) Bill in Kinoya, Nasinu, on Thursday, Matevou opposed provisions allowing “lawful and moderate chastisement” in the proposed Constitution.
She said children should be corrected through responsible parenting and guidance rather than physical punishment.
“Fiji needs discipline families, responsible parents, and parents that do not sleep on their duty, parents that do not neglect their responsibilities,” Matevou said.
“Chastisement means physical punishment. It cannot be measured either objectively or subjectively.”
She said violence was not the answer to correcting children and that parents had a responsibility to nurture and guide them without resorting to physical abuse.
She warned against including constitutional provisions that could legitimise physical punishment, saying the Constitution should protect children rather than expose them to harm.
“The constitution must stand firmly as a shield protecting every child’s dignity, safety and the right to be free from violence.
“Not as an instrument that allows harm that it seeks to prevent.”
