Corporal
punishment in schools should be discouraged. Many schools around the world have
applied this primitive teaching approach to punish any perceived wrong doing in
their schools. Although, mistakes within the school premise should be dealt
with accordingly by the school management, proper punitive methods should be
applied. Violence has been applied for more than 50 years in learning
institutions and little achievements can be attributed to it. Looking back at
what violence has achieved over this period should give teachers and other
stakeholders a reason to alter their current perception on learning. Mac
Bledsoe, in the journal “parenting with dignity” reckons that punishment only
works against the instructor; he further argues that when a child is punished,
they transfer their guilt to the instructor but the activity doesn’t always
work towards correcting the wrongs committed (Raymond p.12). In this essay we shall seek to
establish different effects caused by violence directed to school children,
results violence is likely to achieve and possible alternative measures for
correcting mistakes.
Recent
research result have indicated that more than 26 parent of American parents
believe that instructors should allowed to used violent measures against
students. In fact corporal punishment is
legal in 23 states of America. Often, teachers apply violent punitive measures
in solving issues that do not directly depend on the kids themselves, e.g. when
a student reports to school before completing their homework they are punished
even without consulting their parents (p.13). When children are punished they
learn to tolerate the punishment but they don’t uphold the lessons taught. With
this kind of an attitude, the children only behave in the prescribed way
whenever the punishment is available, but in its absence they behave in a
totally different way.
Since
early 1990s the perception of parents on the subject of corporal punishment has
not changed a great deal. Recent researches concur with results from previous
analysis on the same subject; about 25% of the parents think that teachers in
grade-schools should be allowed to punish kids corporally while the rest think
violent measures should never be applied on schools kids. Even though amongst
the 75% of the parents that did not support corporal punishments in schools are
parents that spank their kids at home, they are fully aware that there is no
ban on corporal punishment enacted by the federal government also several
states have legislations that protect kids from such abuses (Raymond
p.12).
Children
need reasonable scolding during their growth and education. When children
display wrong practices, they should be discouraged from repeating the same in
future, however the means used to scold the children should be formulated in
such a way that the guilt they carry will discourage them from repeating the
same. On the contrary, when a teacher
spanks a student for scoring lowly in a test, s/he might work hard to impress
the teacher and avoid punishment. But the essence of working hard should be
goal driven not avoiding the punishments attached to none performance in tests,
thus the teacher’s primary goal is not achieved (Wilcox 2008).
The greatest tragedy in the children’s life might occur when the
punitive measures are withdrawn; their parents and seniors family members will
expect them to draw the same results they used to get with spanking.
Although
punishment should be applied in extreme cases, it has variously been used for
the wrong reason. When a student fails to complete an assignment in time, the
teacher punishes him or her without trying to establish the main reason for the
lateness. Conversely, when a student uses abusive language at school they are
spanked without guiding them on proper language use and social etiquettes (Laura,
2011). Even when they fight against their
peers they are punished violently by their teachers who do not take care of the
irresponsible behaviors the young citizens are acquiring from the society.
Corporal punishments should only be used in extreme cases; where all other
formulas fail.
Violent
measures used to correct wrong doings in students have in a few cases succeeded
in expediting the desired results. However, most of the cases that are solved
through extreme scolding results in noncompliance from the subjects. Initial
responses of students towards corporal punishment are fear of prolonged pain
but not guilt. The essence of any form of punishment is to correct a mistake
and make the doer aware of undesirable results of their deeds they don’t
correct in time but corporal punishment punishes the instructor especially when
the students develop immunity to punishment they are subject to. Previous
researches have indicated that most of the violence witnessed in learning
institutions around the globe largely borrows from previous violence directed
towards students by their seniors (Wilcox, 2008). When children are mistreated and
disregarded they forget important virtues such as forgiving that should help
them coexist with their peers and uphold violent means of solving crises.
There
are many alternative ways of teaching students and correcting wrong doing
amongst them. A good method for correcting mistakes in students should make
them carry the guilt for partaking in uncouth behavior or committing specific
mistakes. The next step should involve proper lessons on ways of avoiding a
repeat of the same without inflict physical pain. Teaching students to be
results oriented goes a long way in encouraging them to be responsible and time
conscious. When students are allowed the freedom to work on their passions,
with little guidance they can achieve marvelous results.
In
conclusion, kids are vulnerable beings that demands for constant attention,
daily correction and careful monitoring lest they be lost in the maze of this
globalized environment. Schools on the other hand offers ideal environment for
development of desired behaviors and academic goals. I can attest that with
careful guidance from the teachers, students have been found to achieve results
that are beyond their parents’ expectations. Thus, it is irresponsible and
uncouth to use corporal punishment to encourage performance amongst students or
nurture good manners using improper formulas.
Work
Cited
Laura,
Lillian. Holding Your Child Accountable without Punishment. Parenting. February 09, 2011. May 23,
2011. http://www.ahaparenting.com/_blog/Parenting_Blog/post/Holding_Your_Child_Accountable_without_Punishment/
Raymond,
James. Corporal Punishment: Teaching Violence through Violence. Education World. 5.1 (2006): 12-15.
Wilcox,
Patricia. How Will They Learn? What about Punishment? Trauma treatment in Children. April 24, 2008. May 23, 2011. http://traumatreatment.blogspot.com/2008/04/how-will-they-learn.html
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