Arguments Against Corporal Punishment in Schools

The first and the foremost argument is that corporal punishment is in gross violation of a child's right of human dignity and physical integrity. It threatens the very foundation of principles of protection under the universally guaranteed right of protection. Many would counter this by stating the high discipline levels that emanate from relatively conservative societies which deal with their kids in harsher ways. But historically, it has been proven that these kids lack the general creative sense and ability to explore as compared to a kid, wherein freedom of expression holds more importance.

Understanding Implications of Corporal Punishment

In fact, in most of the countries where corporal punishment in schools go unchecked, teachers have actually stopped understanding child psychology. Spanking, in case of any misbehavior, may be an easy way out for the teachers to rein in the moment but its larger implications on the psyche of a kid can be devastating. Every action of children in their formative years is not a result of liberalized thinking. Teachers and even parents must understand that the kids behavioral problems is an influence and reflection of the social circumstances, which are impressed on him. This society is the very community of which the teacher is very much a part. Therefore, a reasoned approach for dealing with student issues, no matter how time-consuming or brain storming it is, must be the way of dealing.

Corporal Punishment Effects

By hitting a child, a teacher is demonstrating his severe inability to deal with the situation in a reasoned way. For instance, in one school, a teacher used to regularly punish a student for coming to school dressed shabbily. The kid, who was a grade 4 student, also did not seem to budge. Everyday the same scene was repeated. The child entered the campus and the teacher, who was in charge of the discipline, and himself a strict 'adherent' of school rules, beat the child daily. The child never protested and even though angered and in pain, yet would bear the pain, without divulging the reason for his habit.

On a brief inquiry by the principal, it came to light that the child had lost his mother and his father was a big drunkard. There was no one at his home, who could dress him up for school. The father, was always lying around the house in a state of filth and the child somehow managed to get ready and come to school on his own. This incident points the lack of understanding exhibited by the teacher in dealing with the kid. It is very important for teachers to understand that a child's habit, is essentially a reflection of his environment. Therefore, before addressing child shortcomings, it is high time we introspect the factors influencing unwanted behavior in children.

Indian poet and Nobel laureate, Rabindranath Tagore, who was a champion for the cause of a free development, and encouraging creative freedom and atmosphere for education, has apt lines in one of his poems. This poem brings out the notion of an ideal state, which we should strive to attain, but not a possibility without ending corporal punishment for our future generations and encouraging caring approach.

The poem reads thus, 'Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high,
Where knowledge is free,
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments,
By narrow domestic walls,
Where words come out from the depth of truth,
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection,
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way,
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit,
Where the mind is led forward by thee,
Into ever-widening thought and action,
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.'

The essential point to understand is that, any learning mind is bound to make mistakes. It is our patience and understanding that helps children learn in the right environment and become responsible citizens of the land.