Learners are Fragile. Handle with Care....

The origin of corporal punishment could date back to hundreds of years ago around the world. It was widely used in schools, in homes, and even in judicial or quasi -judicial circumstances.

As for school corporal punishment, it is believed that this kind of punishment could immediately deter students ’wrong behaviors and help them learn better . As an old saying goes, “Spare the rod, spoil the child.” Corporal punishment was viewed as an efficient way to teach student correct behaviors and to make them study harder. In recent decades, corporal punishment have been banned in many countries in since corporal punishment are considered harmful to students and will cause plenty of adverse effects, such as harm and unwillingness to learn. In Taiwan, we often learn from the news that a student gets punished and, as the result, is badly injured. Therefore, bills are enacted and a policy called Zero Corporal Punishment in School is conducted so as to protect students from physical or mental harm.

Corporal punishment is as humiliating for him who gives it as for him who receives it; it is ineffective besides. Neither shame nor physical pain have any other effect than a hardening one.’ The concept of corporal punishment has become obsolete. The scientific study done on the consequences of corporal punishment has confirmed its damaging effects on the victim’s body, mind and soul.

Corporal punishment has many disadvantages. It has been seen that children who were administered corporal punishment became stubborn and obdurate. It not only breaks the moral code of ethics but is completely wrong on behalf of a guardian. Everyone is aware of the incidents including deaths of students due to corporal punishment. Nobody can put a hand on someone because he wants to, such practices are inhuman and teachers participating in such practices must be imprisoned and stripped of all respect. Secondly, in many cases corporal punishment led to severe injuries or in certain cases death. Corporal punishment instills in the minds of children fear, which is diametrically opposite to the purpose of education. One of the aims of education is to make human mind free of all types of fear. So, corporal punishment and education cannot go hand in hand. It is a kind of child abuse. Most of the human rights organizations consider it a barbaric practice. Hence, corporal punishment has been banned legally. The Law prohibits corporal punishment.

Definition of Terms

To facilitate readers’ understanding, definite two terms:

Corporal punishment: Corporal punishment is punishment that involves hitting someone, such as spanking, hitting with a rod, and drive someone to do something harmful to himself, such as forcing students to spank themselves.

Zero Corporal Punishment z; It means that corporal punishment in school is forbidden.

Definition of Corporal Punishment

As it was called corporal punishment, which was related to physically punishment, most students agreed punishment such as hitting or slapping was corporal punishment. Scolding, which was mentally rather than physically, was not considered corporal punishment by most students and two of the interviewees. It might imply that if teachers could not use corporal punishment in school when students did something wrong, they could reprimand students, which was less harmful to the students compared to corporal punishment..

Purpose of Corporal Punishment

School corporal punishment refers to causing deliberate pain or discomfort in response to undesired behavior by students in schools. It often involves striking the student either across the buttocks or on the hands, with an implement such as a rattan cane, wooden paddle, slipper, leather strap or wooden yardstick. Less commonly, it could also include spanking or smacking the student with the open hand, especially at the elementary school level.

The majority of participants thought the purpose of corporal punishment was to deter and to change the wrong behaviors of the students. It was considered improper to render corporal punishment to those who did not perform well in their study and if the teachers should render corporal punishment to them, it would probably cause pain and, what’s worse, make the students lose their dignity and motivation of learning, and , as a result, become unwilling to study.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Corporal Punishment in School

Deterring and altering wrong behaviors instantly was the main advantage of corporal punishment, while the disadvantage was that it would definitely cause pain and harm. Corporal punishment was merely one of the ways of punishment. There were other ways to change students’ wrong deeds without causing pain, but they would take more time to reach the same effect . That was another main disadvantage. For teachers, it seemed necessary to protect students from being harmed and they might need to devote more time to and be more patient with their students. For students, it might be important to know the endeavors the teachers made to teach them right things.

What can teachers do to discipline the students?

A quick look at the ways schools can make the campus happy and favourable for students out that in case they notice troublesome behaviour from students -- for instance if they are found disturbing other children in class, lying, stealing, causing hurt or injury to others etc --the schools should have a clear protocol to guide teachers about which situation needs assessment and intervention by a school counsellor and which one needs immediate intimation to higher authorities at school and the parents.

IF AN attempt at resolving the problem is not satisfactory, parents could then be referred to a specialist (a child and adolescent psychiatrist or a counsellor).

THE CHILD and adolescent psychiatrist or counsellor should help children learn behaviours that help them develop a sense of self-discipline.

THE SCHOOL counsellor should have the skills to build trust.

HE/SHE SHOULD have constant interaction with the child, his/her parents and teachers for understanding the difficulties of the child.

THE PARENTS should be taken into confidence before sending a child to the counsellor.

THE SCHOOL counsellor should be allowed to hold workshops with the students in different classes from time to time without the presence of teacher and staff.

BESIDES HAVING in-house counsellors, the students and their parents should have the liberty to approach reputed counsellors/mental health professionals to be empanelled by school. The school should also invite reputed mental health professionals to hold workshops for its students and teachers.

Enrolling misbehaving children in community service to teach them a lesson and give them time to reflect on their actions. “We can ask them to monitor the class or supervise the canteen or simply to sit in the library and read,” Children in middle school (upper primary sections) can be given time-outs in the counsellor’s office or library where they can pursue something that interests them .Schools can even replace the word punishment with corrective measures or positive reinforcements. “shools should’t use the word punishments, can call it corrective or punitive action,” “Misbehaviour cannot be blamed on the children alone. The child might be acting out because of stress at home.”

Some schools can also follow the approach of engaging children in activities which they generally dislike as a disciplining technique. children who do not like art can be asked to sit for an extra art class or an extra lecture. Others can keep hyperactive children busy in physical activities. “schools can have a library inside every class, children can be Why should it matter to us. Why is challenging Corporal Punishment very important. This report answers all your queries related to Corporal Punishment in India. "asked to go and read a book from there after they finish their class work so that they do not disturb others,”

• What are the international human rights provisions which speak out against corporal punishment?

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child includes the Right to Protection of the child against abuse, which is categorized as an Immediate Right. Article 19 of the CRC requires States to protect children from “all forms of physical or mental violence”. During the first decade of the Convention, the Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended to over 120 States to abolish all corporal punishment and develop public education campaigns to promote positive, non-violent discipline in the family, schools and other institutions.

In 1999 the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights adopted a General Comment on “The Right to Education” which stated that corporal punishment is inconsistent with the fundamental guiding principle of international human rights law enshrined in the Preambles to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and both Covenants.

• In India what are the provisions against corporal punishment?

Article 21 of the Constitution protecting the ‘right to life’ is the first point of reference. The Child Rights Charter 2003 of India specifically states “All children have a right to be protected against neglect, maltreatment, injury, trafficking, sexual and physical abuse of all kinds, corporal punishment, torture, exploitation, violence and degrading treatment.”

Prohibition and elimination of corporal punishment in schools is identified as a priority in the 2005 National Plan of Action for Children and the report on child protection in the National Plan for 2007-2012. The National Policy on Education (1986, modified 1992) states that “corporal punishment will be firmly excluded from the educational systems.”

In August 2007, the NCPCR also wrote to all chief secretaries with detailed guidelines recommending practical steps for the elimination of corporal punishment. In December of the same year, the Human Resource Development Ministry also wrote to all Chief Secretaries recommending that corporal punishment be prohibited in all schools in the jurisdiction of the state government as it “severely affects the human dignity of the child, thereby reducing his/her self esteem and self confidence”.

A Right to Education Bill (Bill No. LXV of 2008), which would achieve prohibition, has been placed in Rajya Sabha and awaits enactment. It categorically states:

“17. (1) No child shall be subjected to physical punishment or mental harassment.

(2) Whoever contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1) shall be liable to disciplinary action under the service rules applicable to such person.”

How does Corporal Punishment affect the child?

Children due to fear are often silent and submit to violence without questioning. They sometimes show signs of deep hurt in their behavior but this often goes unnoticed, perpetuating further violence on them.

More often than not, when a teacher uses violence on children it is an outburst of his/her personal frustration. V.K. Vijayan, Professor, Institute of Mental Health, Kilpauk is of the opinion that corporal punishment not only affects the emotional behaviour and academic performance of a child, but also leads to reduction in self esteem and dignity of child. 

There is a large body of international research detailing the negative outcomes of corporal punishment. Some of the conclusions are presented below:

Escalation: Mild punishments in infancy are so ineffective that they tend to escalate as the child grows older. The little smack thus becomes a spanking and then a beating.

Encouraging violence: Even a little slap carries the message that violence is the appropriate response to conflict or unwanted behaviour. Aggression breeds aggression. Children subjected to physical punishment have been shown to be more likely than others to be aggressive to siblings; to bully other children at school; to take part in aggressively anti-social behaviour in adolescence; to be violent to their spouses and their own children and to commit violent crimes.

National commissions on violence in America, Australia, Germany, South Africa and the UK have recommended ending corporal punishment of children as an essential step towards reducing all violence in society.

Psychological damage: Corporal punishment can be emotionally harmful to children. Research especially indicts messages confusing love with pain, and anger with submission are the most psychologically harmful. “I punish you for your own sake. You must show remorse no matter how angry or humiliated you are.”

Is corporal punishment banned worldwide?

Corporal Punishment in schools is prohibited in nearly half of the world’s countries. In the past 20 years, eighteen countries have enacted laws prohibiting corporal punishment in all settings, namely in the home, in schools, alternative care and in the judicial system.

It is of interest to note that since the turn of the century, ten countries have officially prohibited all forms of corporal punishment. The pace of reform is gathering momentum in light of the UN Study on Violence against children which recommended in its final report prohibition in law of all corporal punishment of children by 2009.

How can attitudes toward corporal punishment be changed?

Legal protections against corporal punishment are important to safeguard the rights of a child. However, in practice, legal options are usually resorted to only in case of extreme corporal punishment. They are nevertheless important measures of deterrence.

It is very important that teachers should know that by assaulting children they risk not only dismissal but also prosecution by criminal law, which doesn’t exist in India at present.

Simultaneously, public education is crucial to accompany law reform. The process of law reform and enactment of the Right to Education Bill with provisions on corporal punishment itself has the potential to be educational if properly disseminated.

Teacher training and sensitisation, public interest programmes, community mobilization, educating children on their rights etc can additionally play an important role to change attitudes.

How can teachers manage children without scolding them? They have to face such large size classes!

The work conditions of school teachers in most government schools are undoubtedly adverse. There are over crowded classes, not enough text books, first-generation learners etc. But children are not responsible for all these problems that teachers face in performing their duties. It is so easy to victimize the weak. Besides, this is not to say that there is no violence or corporal punishment on children in well-to do schools.

What is Positive Discipline?

The positive discipline parenting and classroom management model is based on the work of Alfred Adler and Rudolf Dreikurs originated in the 1920s. It consists of a specific set of techniques for rewarding good behavior and curtailing negative behaviors. It is a program designed to teach children to become responsible, respectful and resourceful and inculcates a spirit of self-discipline.

It empowers children to make life decisions, based on their own experiences, and to utilise an internal system of reinforcement to weigh the values of the decisions that they have made.

Let us AVIOD.....CANE....BE HUMANE...SINCE....LEARNERS ARE FRAGILE.