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 ...