Chilean Policy on Parental Discipline of Misbehaving Kids: A Breath of Fresh Air

I was asked to translate an interesting conversation the other day between a Chilean policewoman, a carabinera, and a foreign teenager (resident in Chile). The police station was located in an upscale part of Santiago where people tend to be much more highly educated. The cop was scolding her for displaying rebellious, unruly, threatening and disobedient tendencies. Apparently she had some history of running away and of making false accusations, too. The teen was from the United States, the "land of the free," where children have more rights these days than parents do. Such is not the case in Chile, and the carabinera was frank about that fact.

The cop told her that she had to obey her parents. Plus, if she did not obey, her parents could discipline her. They are permitted to slap her across the face or spank her behind. She went on to explain that if she decided to fight back, the parent could have her arrested and jailed. Furthermore, making a false accusation does not just result in a slap on the wrist in Chile as it does in the United States. Far from being rewarded for lying—which is so often the case with evil family court judges or social services bureaucrats in the United States (following secular humanist principles and feminist dogma)—a teen who accuses his parents or any other person falsely in Chile goes to jail.

You see, Chile is a traditional society based on the old principles of Western Civilization. The family is sacred. Rarely are elderly parents cast into an old folks home and forgotten. To do so would be shameful. Divorced women do not jump at the opportunity to jail their ex-husbands which are delinquent in paying child support. A Chilean mother would have difficulty facing her children if they knew that she jailed their daddy. So women work hard to strike a bargain with their ex-husbands. And families do not lightly boot out troubled or even incorrigible children. To do so would cause the family public humiliation or shame. And in Chile appearances matter a lot.

One scandalous example occurred on July 14, 2008 in Valparaíso when María Música Sepúlveda (age 14), an upset high school student, threw the water out of a pitcher in the face of Mónica Jiménez, the minister of education (under Michelle Bachelet) who had cut her speech short before an unruly crowd. It was an act of aggression and disrespect for an adult. The police held the girl in custody for more than fifteen hours, holding her in derision. The girl was also expelled from her school starting in 2011, which mercifully allowed her to finish out the remaining 2008 school year. The school did not want to participate in the negative impact of the national disgrace. The press was shocked and publicly asked what kind of parents would have raised such an undisciplined and insolent child? Public shame for that family was at its maximum. People on the streets could be heard deriding the kid and her family. It was the ultimate humiliation possible and social scorn for the girl and her family was seen as something to be avoided at all cost.

On account of such reasoning, there are relatively few boarding schools for troubled kids, relatively few foster homes, few old folks' homes, etc. in Chile, even in First World Santiago. Sure, such places exist. But there are relatively few of them compared to other places in the "developed world." If there is a problem in the family, then the family takes care of it. If no one in the immediate family can step up to the plate, then another family member will often do so.

Can you imagine a case in a major metropolitan area in the United States, Canada, Australia or Western Europe where a cop comes alongside a parent to scold a unruly child? A parent reporting such a problem child in such instances is likely to become a suspect and at least to receive a visit from a child services worker. In addition, the state would likely force all parties to be subject to mandatory psychological evaluations. The sad yet real fact is that bureaucratic do-gooders and know-it-alls constantly meddle with family affairs in those places.

Chile is different. While Chile clearly has its faults, many of us think that one of Chile's virtues is that traditional family values are upheld. Chile is a throwback to what the United States was fifty or sixty years ago, and many people appreciate that fact. Everyone can appreciate that youngsters are better behaved than their counterparts in other countries. Some will appreciate that women, by and large, do not disdain their traditional role. The elderly can be confident that someone close will care for them. In short, the Chilean family is a happier (at least more humane) reality than families in other parts of the world.

So once again you have a choice to continue living in your First World society up yonder or move to a traditional and civilized country like Chile. If you admire what America used to be, and are fond of the nostalgia of how life was prior to the installation of the Great Society, then Chile ought to be a top destination for enjoying the rest of your life in the Age of Turmoil.

Dr. Cobin’s book, Life in Chile: A Former American’s Guide for Newcomers, is the most comprehensive treatise on Chilean life ever written, designed to help newcomers get settled in Chile. He covers almost ever topic imaginable for immigrants. This knowledge is applied in his valet consulting service, where he guides expatriates through the process of finding a place to live and settle in Chile, helping them glide over the speed bumps that they would otherwise face in getting their visas, setting up businesses, buying real estate, investing in Chilean stocks or gold coins, etc.

Dr. Cobin’s sequel book, Expatriates to Chile: Topics for Living, adds even further depth on important topics to expatriates who either live in Chile already or who have Chile on the short list of countries where they hope to immigrate. The book deals with crucial issues pertaining to urban and rural real estate transactions, natural disasters, issues pertaining to emigration and its urgency, money and the quality of life, medical care and insurance, business opportunities, social manifestations (including welfare state and divorce policy concerns), Chile in the freedom indices, social maladies (lying, cheating, stealing and murder), as well as discussion of a few places worth visiting and some further comments about Santiago.

Buy Dr. Cobin’s Public Policy books at Amazon.com:
Christian Theology of Public Policy: Highlighting the American Experience (2006)Bible and Government: Public Policy from a Christian Perspective (2003)A Primer on Modern Themes in Free Market Economics and Policy (2009)