Corporal Punishment: Discipline or abuse?

Recently, two Govt teachers were suspended by the district administration of Kupwara for allegedly giving corporal punishment to three students in a government school in Kralpora zone of the district. The preliminary enquiry of the incident that was conducted by the authorities also reads that, “prima-facie it appears that the matter is a case of corporal punishment and needs to be enquired into thoroughly”. The use of corporal punishment by the teachers is a sad news and demands immediate attention from the concerned authorities. Corporal punishment is a practice that needs to be condemned and gotten rid of. The way it has been employed by some teachers who use sticks and physical objects to punish students is totally wrong. Teachers in such cases are responsible not only for the shock and trauma that rather discourages pupils but also physical injuries resulting in corporal punishment where it becomes a crime. In the past similar incidents of corporal punishment were reported in many schools where students got allegedly ‘beaten up’ by teachers. It lays bare the fact that corporal punishment is still used for disciplining. Any person, not to mention a child, is not going to learn or make any good of fear and punitive actions to the extent that they cause physical injury. Physical harm to any person; whether a school kid or a full grown adult, is not acceptable in any kind or system of education. Although the number of such incidents has come down, especially after it was banned by Supreme Court, the message is yet to reach every school and school teacher. The responsibility has to be fixed on school administration as well as the department of education. All the pros and cons of corporal punishment with legislations that protect students have to be known and followed by teachers in all institutions. Such incidents are eye-opener as there may be more brutal incidents that are not reported. Of the core values in a learning institute, there is one that emphasizes on respect of individuality and freedom to develop faculties as per abilities. Teachers’ role is more as guides, to help and assist students, children to develop positive desirable traits. If violence starts right at the school, what are we to expect from children when they grow up.            School authorities may take supreme position on matters of conditioning and disciplining students who are treated as mere passive recipients are subjected to disastrous outcomes in the form of cultivating fear or phobia, physical violence, psychological trauma and severe impediment to growth and development. There is a thin line between such punishments and acts of crime. All teaching fraternity must know and respect it. It is also duty of the parents to see to it that their children are not subject to punishments that breech law, proper code of conduct and right human treatment.