A school is a place where children are sent to learn. Sometimes it can also be a place of bullying, sexual harassment, verbal abuse and other forms of violence. In this article, I will focus on violence in schools. The oft-repeated jargon for violence in schools and madrassahs is corporal punishment. It is an entrenched cultural norm in Pakistan. While it also prevails in private schools, corporal punishment is largely synonymous with state-run schools and religious seminaries. Having studied in a government school, I still remember all those scenes. In our times, teachers would never allow students to smile before them. They would carry sticks wrapped in tape and ask students to open their hands; smacking their palms several times for minor mistakes. These infamous practices have gradually faded away but are yet to end completely. In Pakistan, hardly a week passes when we do not hear about an ugly incident of corporal punishment. For instance, a few days ago in my home town Swabi, a female teacher allegedly subjected a grade-IV student of a state-run school to corporal punishment. The teacher is said to have later apologised to the family and explained that it was an act on her part taken in good faith. In Pakistan, teachers believe that corporal punishment is a tool with the help of which they can reform a rogue child. The fact is that those who think this way are mistaken. Corporal punishment never helps in character-building. In June 2021, The Lancet journal published a comprehensive review of studies, which indicated how physical punishment made children’s behaviour worse over time and did not help achieve positive outcomes. What is the way forward? The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Child Protection and Welfare Act 2010 criminalises corporal punishment. However, there is no special law to discourage the infamous practice in schools. Sindh is the only province with an anti-corporal punishment law: Prohibition of Corporal Punishment Act 2016. Similarly, in February 2021, the Islamabad Capital Territory Prohibition of Corporal Punishment Act, 2021 was passed. Here, it merits mentioning that enacting laws alone cannot discourage corporal punishment. There is a need for enhanced and effective training to be imparted to teachers. Before penning my thoughts, I talked to Rubina Baloch. Ms Baloch is serving as a teacher in a state-run school in Sialkot. Based on her years of experience, she told me: “There are still many teachers who regard it as an insult when their students directly come to them to ask question(s) or even passes in front of them.” In Pakistan, teachers believe that corporal punishment is a tool with the help of which they can reform a rogue child. Managing a classroom with students more than its capacity is, indeed, a tough task but this does not justify a teacher’s violent behaviour. Teachers must try to provide an environment that appeals to children. Corporal punishment not only affects a child’s mental and physical health but it sows seeds of hatred in the child’s mind towards the teacher. This also hurts a child’s self-respect, creating long-term negative impacts. For a teacher, it is essential to handle things professionally and avoid violence. For a student, a teacher is a role model. An aggressive teacher can never grow a student into the good citizen that this country needs. Musician Shehzad Roy, whose Zindagi Trust campaigns for children’s rights, particularly in the area of education, once said: “When a child gets physical punishment, society is telling them – and an entire generation – that violence is a valid means of resolving a problem.” Teachers at all educational settings and madrassahs ought to work as role models for children and not just try to police them. Violence in the name of character-building or discipline is an outdated practice and must end. According to UNICEF, Pakistan has the world’s second-highest number of out-of-school children with an estimated 22.8 million children aged 5-16 not attending school. One can imagine how many of these out-of-school children are those who have suffered corporal punishment. Ending violence in schools is the need of the hour. The writer is a police officer with an interest in local social issues and international affairs. He tweets @Numanbacha20.