Survey 2002...

65% of Québécois were spanked as children and 18% say they were subjected to harsher beatings

According to a CROP survey, 65% of Québécois respondents admitted having been spanked, 18% indicated they were subjected to harsher beatings and 23% said they were threatened, humiliated or ridiculed by their parents as children.  The survey also revealed that a significant proportion of Quebec parents are strict and violent towards their children; 13% of respondents said their mothers exhibited “very strict or violent disciplinary” behaviour, and 20% indicated their fathers displayed this type of behaviour.

• 17% of respondents saw their parents use physical violence against their siblings.
• 9% saw their mother and 4% saw their father being subjected to violence.
• 25% stated they knew a friend or family member who had been sexually abused.
• This proportion rose to 35% among those under 34 years of age.
• Despite the violence, 73% of Québécois find that parents are still “too soft”.
• 59% think it is the parents’ duty to slap their children.
• 40% believe that parents need to slap their children to improve their behaviour.
• 63% admit that very often children sustain physical injuries after being subjected to physical discipline by parents.