It is worth asking though, is corporal punishment an acceptable way of correcting children? If it is, is corporal punishment suitable and fit to be applied on kids of less than 6 years old? I ask this because I can’t wrap my head around the fact that there are still schools in Nigeria who believe and enforce flogging as a means of correction. In my thinking, at any time a teacher flogs a child, it simply means that the teacher has failed in the one task he or she is charged with and that task is passing instruction in a clear, succinct and easily understandable form that the child can grasp.
Why should a child be flogged for the failure or inadequacies of the teacher?
Why this fixation on flogging really? What good has it done any of us? Why do some schools still insist on corporal punishment as a form of discipline? For all the flogging we have done as a nation, we haven’t managed to put a man on the moon, we have one of the highest STD transmission rates in the world and as a country, we are host to four of the deadliest terrorist outfits on earth, our morals and values as a nation circle the toilet drain, so again I ask, what good has flogging done for any of us. Countries that have no corporal punishment enshrined in their statutes far outperform most countries that do, so what gives?
My kids attend a fairly decent and standard school nearby. From the beginning I had my reservations regarding the school. It was a mission school (whatever that means anymore), but one of the most expensive in my location. I didn’t really mind the cost since it was close to home and I was saving a ton on fuel and transport. But all that was to change.
I began noticing some form of withdrawal in my boys and after some tactful inquiry, I got to know that their teachers had flogged them. I was beside myself with rage and plotted for a day it would happen again.
Why this fixation on flogging really? What good has it done any of us? Why do some schools still insist on corporal punishment as a form of discipline? For all the flogging we have done as a nation, we haven’t managed to put a man on the moon, we have one of the highest STD transmission rates in the world and as a country, we are host to four of the deadliest terrorist outfits on earth, our morals and values as a nation circle the toilet drain, so again I ask, what good has flogging done for any of us. Countries that have no corporal punishment enshrined in their statutes far outperform most countries that do, so what gives?
My kids attend a fairly decent and standard school nearby. From the beginning I had my reservations regarding the school. It was a mission school (whatever that means anymore), but one of the most expensive in my location. I didn’t really mind the cost since it was close to home and I was saving a ton on fuel and transport. But all that was to change.
I began noticing some form of withdrawal in my boys and after some tactful inquiry, I got to know that their teachers had flogged them. I was beside myself with rage and plotted for a day it would happen again.
I wasn’t going to wait for long. On a particular day, while heading to pick them up, I met my first trooper in tears. His teacher had beaten him apparently. It took every bit of self-control in me not to have given the teacher a good dressing down and I probably would have if the Mrs hadn’t insisted on following along.
I gave the teacher a stern warning and left.
Before becoming a father, I had promised myself that beating and flogging would not be a thing in my home. That I was going to raise my sons differently from how I was raised. I swore not to raise them in fear, I swore to be available to and for them at all times, just like a father should. So hearing that his teacher beat him again, really got me riled up.
Where does the role of a teacher begin and where does it end? Should teachers be expected to enforce morality and discipline? Do teachers know better about raising kids than parents? Is flogging the only way to correct a child? I recall an incident in the same school when I witnessed a toddler in crèche having his ears drawn very violently by the teacher placed in charge of that class. She gave the toddler heavy handed slaps to booth.
Before becoming a father, I had promised myself that beating and flogging would not be a thing in my home. That I was going to raise my sons differently from how I was raised. I swore not to raise them in fear, I swore to be available to and for them at all times, just like a father should. So hearing that his teacher beat him again, really got me riled up.
Where does the role of a teacher begin and where does it end? Should teachers be expected to enforce morality and discipline? Do teachers know better about raising kids than parents? Is flogging the only way to correct a child? I recall an incident in the same school when I witnessed a toddler in crèche having his ears drawn very violently by the teacher placed in charge of that class. She gave the toddler heavy handed slaps to booth.
That was a class I planned to enroll my daughter in but after witnessing that, I cooled the thought. I also witnessed that same staff at another time gorging on the food a parent had brought for her tot. The look of shame that crawled on her face as our eyes locked was one for the ages. Her hand momentarily paralyzed as it dipped into the child’s flask.
I wanted to take the matter up with the school but considered against it. I didn’t want my own kids to be marked out for victimization since I wasn’t changing their schools right away.
I know the Child Rights Act as signed into law in Nigeria takes a very dim view of corporal punishment and indeed anything that takes away from the bodily dignity of children. But it hasn’t been extensively adopted by a number of states and those that have adopted it, enforcement is lethargic.
Corporal punishment is a relic that we have carried over from the colonial days. It is abuse in its raw form; the abuse of a child. Children are not animals that have to be flogged to order. Only a beast flogs a child thinking he or she corrects. We can’t keep perpetuating this circle of abuse. No!
Children will struggle to learn and assimilate knowledge in an atmosphere of fear and subjugation. Any school that allows corporal punishment of any sort to happen within its walls deserves to have its operating license withdrawn. For it is no longer a school but a pen for animals run by animals. The laws of the land supersede any operating guide or policy in any school. Schools need to start being held responsible for the conduct of their staff and facing stiff legal penalties should be a consequence for any school that still permits flogging as a form of correction.
Abused people cannot be allowed to keep abusing others. Anyone with the mindset that supports corporal punishment needs serious psychological evaluation and should not be permitted near children.
I know the Child Rights Act as signed into law in Nigeria takes a very dim view of corporal punishment and indeed anything that takes away from the bodily dignity of children. But it hasn’t been extensively adopted by a number of states and those that have adopted it, enforcement is lethargic.
Corporal punishment is a relic that we have carried over from the colonial days. It is abuse in its raw form; the abuse of a child. Children are not animals that have to be flogged to order. Only a beast flogs a child thinking he or she corrects. We can’t keep perpetuating this circle of abuse. No!
Children will struggle to learn and assimilate knowledge in an atmosphere of fear and subjugation. Any school that allows corporal punishment of any sort to happen within its walls deserves to have its operating license withdrawn. For it is no longer a school but a pen for animals run by animals. The laws of the land supersede any operating guide or policy in any school. Schools need to start being held responsible for the conduct of their staff and facing stiff legal penalties should be a consequence for any school that still permits flogging as a form of correction.
Abused people cannot be allowed to keep abusing others. Anyone with the mindset that supports corporal punishment needs serious psychological evaluation and should not be permitted near children.
We can’t keep passing down trauma from one generation to the next. There are better ways to correct, to instruct, to influence and demand respect from our children.
Flogging is not the way.
No wonder there are lots of ill-mannered children in schools now due to lack of discipline.
ReplyDeleteDiscipline is good, but when it draws out blood from a child is unacceptable.
A lot of Nigerians don't know the difference between discipline and flogging. PLus some are sadists and derive pleasure from beating those weaker than them.
ReplyDelete