Dear Mathira & Rose,
My sons are 11 and eight years of age. They have a home tutor who comes for them every day after school. Sometimes, when I cross the study room, I spot one of my sons standing in the corner as some sort of punishment by the home tutor. Is it okay? I’m fuming but my husband thinks it’s okay and I’m over reacting. Really? Please advise.
Rose’s advice:
No, I don’t think it’s never okay to punish your child as it can deeply affect your child mentally. I think you need to speak to the tutor about it. He has no right to punish the child physically. There are other ways to set the children right if they’ve been naughty or haven’t studied or haven’t done their homework. You can give them a timeout by cutting down their television time or by grounding them. But I don’t think the tutor should physically harm them or make them sit in a corner. This is bound to affect the child psychologically. If your husband says it’s okay, then I’m sure he must’ve gone through the time when it was okay for headmasters to beat up a child in school and parents were not bothered about it. But times have changed. It’s not okay for schoolteachers to hit a child. So, that’s definitely wrong.
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Mathira’s advice:
When I want to make my son realise that he’s made a mistake, I do give him a timeout. I hate hitting and I’m against using a tool to hit a child. But I do believe in making a child sit in a corner and realise what he’s done wrong. Ask your son, why he’s getting these timeouts. You shouldn’t get angry but do talk to your son instead of talking to his tutor. Following what your son tells you, then decide if you want to talk to the tutor.
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