Education
Although many state governments have come up with laws banning corporal punishment in schools, but many parents, teachers and some professionals believe that it is necessary if it is judiciously applied in the training of children and should not be jettisoned.
By Christabel Ejenike
THE debate on the advantages and disadvantages of adopting corporal punishment in schools and homes shall continue as long as some teachers and parents abuse corporal punishment daily in schools and homes despite the existence of legislations prohibiting the use of it in checking the behaviours of children and wards.
It is equally observed that even the laws prohibiting the use of corporal punishment in schools have some form of contradictions. For instance, the Child Rights Act of 2003 in section 221(1) (b) states that no child shall be ordered to be subjected to corporal punishment, which is contrary to the provision of section 295 of the criminal code and section 55 of the penal code which both endorse the use of corporal punishment as a disciplinary method for persons below the age of 18.
However, a test case of this legislation was demonstrated when on November 5, 2010, a prosecutor, Eze E Eze, ordered that 25 minors, who were caught hawking in an unauthorized area in Abuja be flogged six strokes of cane each.
Many Nigerians do agree that the rod should not be spared in the upbringing of children. Joseph Agha, an academic expert, the owner of Merry Berry Academy, Jikwoyi, in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in 2022 that “I strongly believe in the efficacy of corporal punishment in putting children straight. If you spare the rod, you spoil the child. Children should be disciplined. Corporal punishment is allowed in schools. The law recognises it.
“If we generally abandon the rod, what is happening now will be a child’s play to what will happen in the future,” he warned.
Also, a report by Realnews magazine stated that the ban on corporal punishment has surprisingly resulted in the decline in the nation’s standard of education. The report acknowledged that both parents and teachers believe that child discipline is crucial in the proper upbringing of any child. “So when we embrace institutionalized policies that preach child rights at the expense of discipline, we end up raising children, who will become a nuisance to the societies,’ one of the parents said, adding that the high crime rate among the youth is traceable to the absence of discipline in schools and the ban of corporal punishment.
In addition, a study conducted by Sigman, a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, reveals that ‘’nursery-age children are becoming increasingly violent and disrespectful towards teachers and parent battering is on the rise.’’ According to him, this is caused by an attempt to empower children and lack of discipline in the classrooms.
Sigman noted that Britain now has the highest rate of child depression, child-on-child murder, underage pregnancy, obesity, violence and antisocial behavior, and pre-teen alcoholism. His report; THE SPOILT GENERATION shows that these are the result of a lack of discipline.
Annie Holmquist, the editor of Intellectual Takeout, believes that the kinder, gentler, ‘’let-me-be your friend approach’’ to parenting is the major cause of the lack of discipline among teenagers today.
In addition, Ejenike Ifeanyi, an engineer, shares similar views on the matter “We don’t want to experience what is happening in the Western world where a child can call the police because they’re reprimanded by his parents.
“I am a Christian and the Bible says if you spare the rod, you’ll spoil the child, and I also believe in the carrot and stick approach, both in and out of school, that is to say, if a child does something good, you reward the child and if he does badly then show him a cane and if he doesn’t listen then cane him, he will surely correct himself.
According to the engineer, if corporal punishment is administered in the right proportion, it will be able to make a lot of positive difference than “when you leave a child to behave however he likes”.
He also notes that it is important to let the child know the reason for his punishment and that it is not out of malicious intent. “When you punish a child, let them know it’s for his own good and future so that he won’t misinterpret it as hate, because when he misconstrues your actions as hate, it will produce a counter result, which will not be good for anybody; the child and the society and all.”
He goes further to explain that when most people remove a mice from a dog, they show it to the dog so that it will realize that no harm is meant in the action taken, while, “when showing a child a toad in the midst of stones, you have to point at it because they’re similar”.
He, however, acknowledges that in some cases the administration of corporal punishment can turn into abuse when it becomes overbearing and there should be a limit. “Don’t punish the child to the extent that he’ll miss class, if it extends to that, it’s an abuse, when you flog the child until you draw blood, it’s an abuse,” he said.
The engineer also suggested the adoption of checks and balances and that if the authority in charge of the children abuses their power, they should be surcharged and where necessary requested to apologize in front of the students and also to the offended student.
He also suggested alternative ways of handling the situation instead of using corporal punishment. For instance, “You can restrict their freedom during their break periods, no child wants to miss break so withholding their freedom can serve as another way of punishment.”
Speaking in the same vein, a parent, Antonia Ejenike, says that corporal punishment is necessary for the upbringing of a child. “Corporal punishment is for corrective purposes so that a child can be led aright, corporal punishment is given to deter a child from the wrong way.
“Corporal punishment is to correct so when a child is advised not to come late to school, but he continues, you can single him out and punish him in front of other students to set an example, he will change not only from the effects of the punishment as well as the admonishing eyes and remarks from his fellow students.”
Ejenike, who is also a lawyer, notes that corporal punishments should be reasonably applied. For instance, asking a child to cut the grass in a football field is rather severe for coming late to school or using a cane meant for controlling cattle to hit children for an offence amounts to an abuse.
She, however, advised against administering punishments that do not align with the offence “like using a razor or hot knife to correct a child for erring”.
She also added that age and the class of the child should be considered when administering corporal punishment.
In his contribution, Nwobodo Chike, a retired school teacher, says that he doesn’t think Nigeria has reached the stage of abolishing corporal punishment entirely in schools.
“For us, I don’t think we’ve reached the stage where corporal punishment should be abolished because students these days are stubborn and if you observe that, then cane them or maybe ask them to do some manual jobs,” he said.
He believes that corporal punishment should not be the first corrective measure to be used. “If a child comes late to school for the first time you can warn him, but if it becomes a habit then you can send him to the principal’s office while you find out why he’s a habitual latecomer,” he said.
He, however, advised that “when you want to give a student corporal punishment like cutting of grass you have to consider the age and if the student is tender, you have to limit the punishment”.
Despite the views expressed by some parents and professionals in favour of the adoption of corporal punishment in schools and in the upbringing of children, Rev. Fr. Oliver Ngwu, the school administrator for Sacred Heard Group of Schools, opposes the use of corporal punishment in the training of any child.
“I doubt whether it’s necessary to inflict corporal punishment on students, I believe they’re still other means of correcting them or shaping them in order to give them a good future,” he said.
He says that most times people in charge of children abuse corporal punishment due to bad temperament and they use abusive words or even inflict pain on the children left under their care. According to him, when this happens, then corporal punishment has shifted from a corrective measure to abuse.
He said that corporal punishment can affect children psychologically and has adverse effects on them “Some children may due to the pain experienced from punishments will become afraid of coming to school. It can also have psychological effect and they will begin to think that the teachers hate them.”
He suggests an approach that serves as a lesson and a punishment and this way the children can gain more. “We try to make them see the reason to stop their undesirable character. For example, for someone who’s a truant in school, you can curb his character by placing a role model for him/her and letting them know that those great people did not become what they are by being a truant in school. Once they see the reason why they should stop their misconduct they will stop,” he said.
He also advised that offering incentives when they do something good can be helpful.
He also suggested that in a situation where the student does not change after all these have been done then involving the guardians as a follow-up should be considered. “Invite the guardians of the students to know what is wrong, sometimes their problems could stem from their family background; follow up with your students, sometimes even try to visit their homes, it might be time-consuming but it’s worth it,” he added.
9th February, 2024
C.E.
Tags: Annie Holmquist Antonia Ejenike Ejenike Ifeanyi Eze E Eze Joseph Agha Merry Berry Academy Nwobodo Chike Realnews magazine Rev. Fr. Oliver Ngwu Royal Society of Medicine Sacred Heard Group of Schools Sigman
