Corporal punishment: The beginning of the end to learning

Physical punishment is banned but is still prevalent both in government and private educational institutions across the country.

Image used for representational purpose. (Express Illustration)

When children are in conflict with the law, they show a mirror to the roles teachers, parents and family members played in their upbringing. It is the teacher after parents, who shapes the formative years of a child and can become their guiding light to new, hitherto unexplored horizons. Teaching is not just another job with a paycheck at the beginning or end of the month. It is a dedication to children and their cognitive growth.  

Yet, administrators, especially in government primary schools, appear to have given little thought to hiring teachers beyond their mandatory educational qualifications and basic training. Such an approach is neither practical nor child-centric. As for private schools, teachers are in a mad race to achieve the target of 100% pass percentage. For most of them, dealing with slow learners is an irritation, which has consequences.

Not every university topper can make a good teacher. To teach, the person should not only know the subject but also have the knowledge and the skillset to make students active learners. When teachers with no skills or commitment to contribute to the children's development enter the profession with their own baggage of ideological stereotypes, mundane, familial, financial and health issues etc., it hurts the entire ecosystem.

Two recent incidents in Uttar Pradesh and J&K in which two teachers gave their students harsh physical punishment shook the nation's conscience. The violence against the two students was the regurgitation of the collective societal communal hatred and exclusivity, which the two teachers manifested by their actions. Such teachers ought not to have been in the profession in the first place.

How many of them are on the payrolls of schools in the country is anybody’s guess. That data is not something an RTI application would throw up. Surely all teachers, barring those who came in through fraudulent means, would have had the required academic qualifications and training. Yet, they don't belong.

Deterrent to learning

Apparently, both teachers believed in the old-school concept of 'spare the rod and spoil the child.' They are unaware that corporal punishment is not only illegal, it also serves no useful purpose. Physical punishment can only damage a child’s self-esteem and his idea of learning in an environment that recognises and celebrates one’s academic prowess by the marks he achieves. Therein lies the dilemma.

Teachers, driven by targets of 100% pass percentage, need institutional acceptance and appreciation besides that of parents and students, for their own validation. In a class of 100, if 15 are slow learners or some have behavioural issues, who will be at the receiving end of the teachers?

Obviously, the last two categories of students. Unfortunately, such teachers neither spare the rod nor bother about its adverse effects on children for the rest of their lives. Corporal punishment is a deterrent to institutional or any form of learning and is a major reason behind school dropouts, especially in rural and semi-urban areas.

Banned but prevalent

Physical punishment is banned but is still prevalent both in government and private educational institutions across the country. Various high courts have come down heavily against corporal punishment. It is anti-Constitutional as it violates the right to live with dignity, which is integral to Right to Life under Article 21.

It's also against the Right to Education, which is a fundamental right under Article 21A. Section 17 (1) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 expressly bans subjecting a child to mental harassment or physical punishment. Cruelty to children is also prohibited under Section 23 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000. Article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Child 1989 (UNCRC) declares that any form of discipline involving violence is unacceptable. It lays down that children have the right to be protected from being hurt and mistreated, physically or mentally.

“Many teachers hauled up for corporal punishment claim protection under Sections 88 and 89 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) saying they were taking action in good faith,” said Vasudev Sharma, executive director, Child Rights Trust, Bengaluru. Section 88 of the IPC safeguards “Acts not intended to cause death, done by consent in good faith for person’s benefit” and Section 89 protects “act done in good faith for benefit of child or insane person, by or by consent of guardian.”

Scarred for life

Laws apart, whether for good or bad, “corporal punishment can mean long-term trauma for sensitive children and scar them for life,” said Satish Girimaji, well-known former child and adolescent psychiatrist at the National Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru.

“If a child is getting punished for poor performance in school, should the parents not be questioned? Many parents assume that it is the teachers' job to accomplish their child’s academic performance and have literally washed their hands of it. If a child has behavioural issues, it is important to analyse his or her parenting and family set up. Balanced parenting requires a combination of love and limits. A child may be getting enough love and attention at home, but have the parents set boundaries? High love and low limits is neglectful parenting. Love less and have only rules is authoritarian parenting and only love and no limits is permissive parenting,” said the psychiatrist.

Girimaji underscored the need for parents to express love, set boundaries and have an open communication with their children for their holistic development.“Some children don’t have regulators. They have behavioural problems. Teachers resort to corporal punishment to instill fear in them. A child may take it till age 12 but by then their relationship and self-image is damaged. Once adolescence sets in, he or she will give it back,” said Dr K M Rajendra, associate professor, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, NIMHANS.

“The government policy on mandatory screening of children at eight and 14 years for specific learning disabilities will help in early identification and appropriate and timely support to them. It will help minimise corporal punishment,” he added.

Note to teachers

Corporal Punishment is not just spanking. The RTE Act, 2009, defines it as discrimination, physical punishment and mental harassment. Let’s take a look

Discrimination

Means prejudiced views and behaviour towards any child because of her/his caste/gender, occupation or region and non-payment of fees or for being a student admitted under the 25% reservation to disadvantaged groups or weaker sections of society under the RTE, 2009. It can be latent; manifest; open or subtle. It includes but is not restricted to the following:

• Bringing social attitudes and prejudices of the community into the school by using belittling remarks against a specific social group or gender or ability/disability
• Assigning different duties and seating in schools based on caste, community or gender prejudices (for example, cleaning of toilets assigned by caste; task of making tea assigned by gender); admission through 25% reserved seats under the RTE; or non-payment of any prescribed fees
• Commenting on academic ability based on caste or community prejudices
• Denying mid-day meal or library books or uniforms or sports facilities to a child or group of children based on caste, community, religion or gender
• Deliberate/wanton neglect

Physical punishment

It is any action that causes pain, hurt/injury and discomfort to a child, however light. Examples of physical punishment include but are not restricted to the following:

• Causing physical harm to children by hitting, kicking, scratching, pinching, biting, pulling the hair, boxing ears, smacking, slapping, spanking or with any implement (cane, stick, shoe, chalk, dusters, belt, whip, giving electric shock etc.)
• Making children assume an uncomfortable position (standing on bench, standing against the wall in a chair-like position, standing with schoolbag on head, holding ears through legs, kneeling etc.)
• Forced ingestion of anything (for example: washing soap, mud, chalk, hot spices etc.)
• Detention in the classroom, library, toilet or any closed space in the school

Mental harassment

It is any non-physical treatment that is detrimental to the academic and psychological well-being of a child. It includes but is not restricted to the following:

• Sarcasm that hurts or lowers the child’s dignity
• Calling names and scolding using humiliating adjectives, intimidation
• Using derogatory remarks for the child, including pinning of slogans
• Ridiculing the child with regard to her background or status or parental occupation or caste
• Ridiculing the child with regard to her health status or that of the family – especially HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis
• Belittling a child in the classroom due to his/her inability to meet the teacher’s expectations of academic achievement
• Punishing or disciplining a child not recognising that most children who perform poorly in academics are actually children with special needs. Such children could have conditions like learning disability, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, mild developmental delay etc.
• Using punitive measures to correct a child and even labelling him/her as difficult; such as a child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder who may not only fare poorly in academics, but also pose a problem in management of classroom behaviour
• ‘Shaming’ the child to motivate the child to improve his performance

Source: NCPCR guidelines for elimination of corporal punishment