Punishments: Do our children really need them?

Earlier this week, I had to deal with four students of Grade VII, who were found cheating during their second terminal exams. Two of them were repeat offenders so it made the situation worse. Physical punishment is seen as a way to correct children's behavior. In this case, I knew it wasn’t going to work.

In our society, the sight of a mother spanking her kid and teachers carrying a cane to the classroom isn’t such an uncommon sight. Ask a mother or a teacher who follows such practice, the answer will be that our kids need a spanking or a two to control their behavior. In my recent visit to a public school, I was bemused to see a teacher walking around the class with a stick long enough to hit the child sitting in the corner of a bench. In another school I visited, a child was expelled for failing to follow the norms of the school of speaking English.

Many teachers and parents feel the need of controlling children’s behavior through various punishment mechanisms. The basic idea of punishment is to instill fear in children to prevent them from repeating any such deviant behavior.  Our country lacks explicit prohibition of corporal punishment which allows the teachers to freely practice corporal punishments in schools in order to infuse discipline and for behavioral correction. Many teachers vouch for the importance of punishments. However, the effectiveness of the same is debatable.

Punishment cannot be regarded as an assurance to correct a child’s behavior anymore. Punishments can harm a child physically but what’s more dreadful is the scar it might leave on a child’s psychology for a lifetime. Punishing a child can lead to animosity towards the school and teachers, may increase the rate of delinquency, dropping out of school and learning of violent behavior from the teachers. If the school fails to provide a safe and a caring learning environment for the children, they will be discouraged to attend schools and lack enthusiasm in classroom and other school activities. What stands affirm is the fact that no child can learn, grow and be nurtured under any kind of fear. Moreover, what kind of values would we, as teachers, be cultivating in our children by resorting to violence in classroom? Being a teacher gives us an authority and power and let’s make an effort to not channelize it in a negative way.

What the children need is counseling and mentoring to help them realize the moral values and duties rather than instilling fear. May be it is time that the schools in Nepal adopted reformed measures to correct child’s behavior. The need of the hour is to understand the child’s psychology and their feelings in order to help them learn better so that they can be a responsible global citizen, a tolerant human being and a successful person. Schools should promote reward mechanisms, positive reinforcements and role models.

And with regard to the situation I had to deal with, I asked the students to leave the class and get an application signed by all of their subject teachers – explaining their deviant behavior and promising to not repeat it. I am not sure of whether they would keep their promise but I have a promise to keep. To teach with books and pens, not with sticks and scales.

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