Reports of corporal punishment being inflicted on a student of Class II of a particular institution reeks of sadism. How can any sane person get physical with a child aged not more than seven or eight years old, no matter how naughty the child is? That the person who inflicted the punishment is none other than the principal of the school is even more serious since the person is expected to be more circumspect about his actions and behavior. Corporal punishment includes hitting of a person with a hand or an object such as a cane or belt. It is also kicking, slapping, shaking or throwing of a person with the intention of inflicting pain on them. While the physical damage done to the body can be treated, the emotional and psychological scars can affect the victim especially young kids very deeply.But many schools including those run by missionaries which are supposed to be more humane continue to have in their rolls teachers who inflict corporal punishment to the point that children come home bleeding from their mouths. Yet parents don’t dare squeak because of the fear of their child being further victimized. In fact, there are many different ways in which students are being negatively disciplined in some schools even today.
Studies have shown that schools which use corporal punishment tend to have poorer academic achievement, more vandalism, truancy, pupil violence and dropout than schools that don’t use corporal punishment. Also teachers who use corporal punishment tend to spend more time “disciplining” and less time teaching than teachers who don’t use corporal punishment. All acknowledged leaders in the fields of education and child development consider the use of corporal punishment, whether by teachers or parents, counterproductive and unprofessional. What is worse about corporal punishment is that it causes loss of self esteem in the child and plants the seeds of future self-destructive and antisocial behaviors such as lying, stealing, fighting, bullying, delinquency, chemical dependency and reckless driving. Ironically, corporal punishment is often used to punish some of the very behaviors it causes. While there is an unwritten law in this country which makes corporal punishment unacceptable, many teachers, particularly male teachers continue to use the rod, to discipline the child. It is time to end this sadism and those in charge of education should see that this practice is eradicated.