60% of Under-Fives Still Experience Violent Discipline, Study Says

On Tuesday, the first-ever International Day of Play (IDOP) was celebrated around the world. IDOP is meant to serve as a catalyst for a better understanding of human development across cognitive, social, emotional, and physical growth.

With it, however, some grim realities had been revealed by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). It turns out that many young children are not only deprived of healthy environments but are subjected to violence.

Today, millions of households around the world continue to physically and psychologically harm children. There are roughly 330 million kids who are put through physical punishment. As a matter of fact, roughly 60 percent of children under five experience violent discipline, based on UNICEF's most recent survey.

“When children are subjected to physical or verbal abuse at home, or when they are deprived of social and emotional care from their loved ones, it can undermine their sense of self-worth and development,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell in a statement. The body also found that one out of ten children in the world still miss out on critical development measures.

ALSO READ:

Poetry Is the Filipino's Favorite Book Genre, According to Study

Read the Philippines' Most Banned Books in This 'Secret' Digital Archive

UNICEF data takes into consideration various types of abuse. This includes psychological, wherein caregivers or parents subject their kids to reckless screaming and name-calling. Things like spanking and hitting or any form of discomfort that leads to injuries, on the other hand, still seem to be the norm.

In the Philippines, Unicef says that roughly 20 million children from the ages of 1 to 14 have been subjected to violent discipline in their young lives. In early 2023, the Department of Social Welfare and Development also reported that there had been 9,000 cases of child abuse the year prior.

The nation's laws also forbid corporal punishment in the penal system, schools, alternative care settings, and daycare centers. But the thing is, said punishment inflicted in the home has vague language in technical terms. In the 1987 Family Code, exercising parental authority still means discipline “as may be required under the circumstances.”

The agency recommends that governments around the world should look into better legal frameworks and evidence-based parenting programs and initiatives.