Daily Times

In Pakistan, corporal punishment of students is a routine activity in the majority of the schools, and pretty much every educator manages punishment in various manners. Every day, we come to know about students severely beaten by their teachers or the school administration. The sort, quantity, and intensity of corporal punishment vary from school to school and teacher to teacher and sometimes it reaches to the level of torture.

Corporal punishment has been being used for a considerable length of time, however, with the progression of time a few countries have begun understanding its negative effect on students’ learning and advancement, thus subsequently, various nations have restricted its utilization in schools. Yet there are countries like Pakistan, where either no legitimate enactment exists to restrict it or the law isn’t actualized appropriately. This paper attempts to discuss the underlying drivers of this transgression, its various forms, its side effects on understudies and a few suggestions to surrogate it.

Teachers and school administrators use corporal punishment routinely for a variety of reasons. It is frequently used to maintain law and order situation within and outside the classrooms, as well as in response to unacceptable behavior or inappropriate language. In the classroom, students are expected to listen to the teachers silently without moving from their seats. If this rule is violated, the crook is punished in front of other students and no one else dares to repeat that mistake. Out of the classrooms, this job is done by the Physical Education Teacher (PET), who is considered to be the main implementer of discipline in the school. The PET monitors proceedings of the morning assembly and also observes cleanliness and hygiene, which provides her/him with sufficient opportunities to use his authority in the form of corporal punishment.

Corporal punishment is also used for students’ poor academic performance. For this purpose, teachers ask oral questions in the class, give written tasks, ask students to reproduce what has been taught the previous day, ask students to solve a math sum on the board and give test after teaching a whole chapter. In each case, students are expected to show excellent performance, and if this does not happen, the teachers become furious and the students receive severe punishment.

Teachers use corporal punishment for several other reasons too: such as for making noise in the classroom, for coming late, for going out without teachers’ permission, for asking questions from the teacher, for not respecting teachers, for not wearing clean clothes, and for not doing homework. In some schools’ students are not allowed to be involved in games, musical programs, and other social activities and in case of violation, the student gets punished. There are many other minor things for which the poor students are punished in the school and no one dares to raise a voice against this cruel act.

To proscribe corporal punishment, school culture needs to be transformed through law reforms, and school leadership must be made responsible to eliminate all kinds of violence against children

There are a variety of ways and forms used by teachers to punish the young kids in schools. Some of them are very much terrifying and a number of them even lead to physical and mental disabilities. Canning, slapping and paddling are commonly used methods of corporal punishment in schools. Some teachers do not mind using other forms and means of punishment too, such as have the students stand on one foot in the sun, made them kneel on sharp objects, lock them in dark spaces, make them Murgha (rooster) for hours, twist their ears, give them excessive physical exercises and so on.

Corporal punishment of students is a destructive form of discipline that is ineffective in producing a conducive learning environment in schools. The use of violence against students must not be an acceptable means of discipline. There is a substantial body of research showing the negative effect of corporal punishment on children. It has a range of adverse neurological, physical, behavioral, cognitive and antisocial development consequences. Ruptured eardrums, brain damage, fractured bones, other bodily injuries and even deaths in some instances are some of the bad and tragic effects of corporal punishment.

Corporal punishment is a short-term solution, but in the long term, it causes much more damages. It is a form of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of children. It also affects children’s basic right to education, as there are clear links between teacher beating children and children drop out of school. Corporal punishment does not produce better behavior, rather provokes anger in the child which at later stages results in antisocial and violent tendencies. Children learn that violence is acceptable behavior and the stronger can use force on the weaker ones. It also signals to the child that using physical force and inflicting pain is the only way to settle interpersonal conflicts. As a result, they may not be able to learn and develop the necessary skills to settle disputes. Research finds a correlation between corporal punishment and depression, low self-esteemed, negative psychological adjustments, aggressive behavior and poor relationship with the person in authority (teachers, parents, etc.).

Realizing the negative effect of corporal punishment, some educationists recommend alternatives, which in reality are merely alternative punishment and much in common with physical punishment, such as time-out, denial of privileges, extra writing tasks, sit-ups, pushups, and cleaning toilets, etc. All these methods give the same message that the teachers are taking unfair advantage of their power and authority over the children and wish to cause them pain. These approaches miss the best opportunity of learning and development and sidetrack the children into a fantasy of revenge. Effective alternatives to corporal punishment are those that help the children to learn and develop healthily. For developing positive attitudes and acceptable behavior in children, educational institutions need to provide a safe, stress-free and conducive learning environment for children. A school culture that ensures a safe and respectful environment for students will rely less on violence for discipline and learning.

To proscribe corporal punishment, school culture needs to be transformed through law reforms, and school leadership must be made responsible to eliminate all kinds of violence against children. Moreover, teachers and school heads have to be equipped with alternative, positive and non-violent disciplinary strategies. They must understand that educational institutions should be nurseries of peace and prolific milieu for kids not places of fear, humiliation, and torture.

The writer is an Education Specialist, Mountain Institute for Education and Development