Spanking both at home and
Schools.
Gurdip Singh Bhamra
9878961218
Luckily we have a law on our side; still children have to suffer of spanking at our schools. They receive corporal punishment which does not tantamount to the quantum and gravity of the error which is assumed to be committed by them. For a very minor mistake or error they are punished. The method of punishment has always been very cruel although the objective of such punishment is, as the teachers are heard saying, very noble.
Punishment is used to enforce discipline. After all, they say, this is what the students need to learn at the school and their parents indeed send them to school for. Learning without discipline is meaningless, they argue. Learning, on the other hand, is itself a discipline of mind, isn’t it? They ask and go a step further to add that a student needs to learn the discipline of mind as well that of the body. This is all in their benefit, to build a better future. They bring the philosophy of education to their aid. Just to convince a lay man who is ignorant of such things and nods at their arguments. But nowhere in the philosophy of education, the educational-psychological of child and all pedagogical practices it is recommended to punish a child. I have not come across a single sentence in their support. However to contradict their popular opinion, there were many. The adage used commonly to cover all such argument ‘Spare the rod and spoil the child’ is quite old and outdated. Those were the days when pedagogical practice was in its stage of infancy. We cannot and should not support this dictum.
Spanking or hitting a child as part of punishment serves absolutely no positive purpose at all, albeit it results in the development of negative traits. A frequently punished child becomes more violent and revengeful and after the punishment and it is likely that he will transfer the impact on somebody lower in power and status. He may become cruel to his siblings, violent at home, cruel to his playthings and articles given to him to play or shows the signs of development of some destructive habits in later life. It is very likely that he becomes abusive towards his mother or father. Children, who by nature learn by imitating the behaviour of their elders, pick up violence as a habit. If hitting and spanking is common in the environment of a child, he will surely become a violent citizen later. If we want to preserve the finer qualities in his temperament then stop hitting the child. Stop giving punishment as it is not going to serve any purpose.
What kind of punishment is given to the children? It is an awe-inspiring and eye-opener for the parents to know the version of the punishment their children receive at the hands of their teachers, whom we generally consider the mentors our children and to whom we trust our most precious belonging. (Precious for us but not for the teachers.) There are three types of corporal punishments served on children in schools.
Physical Punishments: 1. Making the children stand as a wall chair
2. Keeping the school bags on their heads,
3. Making them stand for the whole day in the sun,
4. Make the children kneel down and do the work and then enter the class room
5. Making them stand on the bench,
6. Making them raise hands,
7. Hold a pencil in their mouth and stand,
8. Holding their ears with hands passed under the legs,
9. Tying of the children’s hands,
10. Making them to do sit-ups
11. Caning and pinching and
12. Twisting the ears
Emotional Punishments: 1. Slapping by the opposite sex
2. Scolding abusing and humiliating
3. Label the child according to his or her misbehaviour and send him or her around the school
4. Make them stand on the back of the class and to complete the work.
5. Suspending them for a couple of days
6. Pinning paper on their back and labeling them “I am a fool”, “I am a donkey” etc.
7. Teacher takes the child to every class she goes and humiliates the child.
8. Removing the shirts of the boys.
Negative Reinforcement 1. Detention during the break and lunch.
2. Locking them in a dark room
3. Calling for parents or asking the children to bring explanatory letters from their parents
4. Sending them home or keeping the children outside the gate
5. Making the children sit on the floor on the classroom.
6. Making the child clean the premises.
7. Making the child run around the building or in the playground.
8. Sending the children to principals.
9. Making them to teach in the class.
10. Making them to stand till the teacher comes.
11. Giving oral warnings and letters in the diary or calendar
12. Threatening to give TC for the child.
13. Asking them to miss games or other activities
14. Deducting marks.
15. Treating the three late comings equal to one absent.
16. Giving excessive imposition.
17. Make the children pay fines.
18. Not allowing them into the class.
19. Sitting on the floor for one period, day, week and month.
20. Placing black marks on their disciplinary charts.
The physical punishment is used to create terror in their minds. This way they receive their first lesson of terrorism. They learn to be bully in their later life. There is likelihood that they idolise terrorism. If a person is more hit during his childhood, it is more likely that he hits his own child, spouse or friends, when he is grown up. A frequently hit child will be a problematic person tomorrow. He may assault his parents in retaliation. The same attitude may reflect in the schools against the teachers also.
The corporal punishment sows the seeds of irritation in their mind. Their learning process is hampered. A punishing teacher is never liked by the students just as a policeman is not welcome sign in the society or social evenings. Fear has no relations with learning. All learning stops short of place which is haunted by fear. So all corporal punishment along with its noble purpose stands exposed and deserves to be deplored.
The emotional punishment which is awarded to a child to bring him to task, has no positive effect either. A child is full fledged entity and deserves the same treatment as adults do. They should be respected, cared, loved and appreciated. By awarding the emotional punishment the child is degraded socially and psychologically. If by physical punishment he receives marks on his body, it is very likely that he receives marks on his soul by way of emotional punishment. He has to suffer insult, humiliation, and pangs of inferiority complex. It is like exposing a flower to the fire. His personality receives the bruises which last very long. I have personally never liked or appreciated my teacher who used any kind of punishment in our class. I am of the firm view that the punishment is the sign or failure of a teacher. He fails to understand the motives of the students and shows his inability to guide them accordingly. Later when I got an opportunity to study to pedagogy deeply, I leant how ignorant were my teachers. All punishment or indisposition to punish comes out of an irritation. Any action which has its origin in anger or irritation is irrational and bound to bounce back in the same manner, anger resulting in anger, irritation in irritation and violence in violence.
The third kind of punishment is the negative punishment. How can a negative action yield positive results? A child who is frequently subjected to inferiority complex may never be able to recover from it. Abnormal complexes with certain degree of superiority and inferiority are bad. They disrupt the normal development of a child. We neither require slaves nor tyrants in future. For any abnormal behaviour in the child counselling should be sought to find a proper answer. It should be the basic concern of a school to keep a strict watch on the development of the child. No problem is biggest problem and no problem survives without a solution. Therefore, all the problems related to a child should be analysed by the experts in a threadbare manner to find a suitably positive solution. No problem in the world exits without a solution. All children should be respected and loved at school and at home by their teachers and their parents. They should be given opportunities of heart to heart talk and the teacher should think always think and speak high of them. Their problems should be heard as often and attempts should be made to resolve all issues taking the child in strict confidence. No opportunity should be lost to appreciate every good thing the child does.
What the law speaks? Who can punish whom? What is the crime for which punishment can be inflicted? Whether Parents or Teachers or School managers have any adjudicatory authority to decide circumstances under which a punishment can be inflicted, the quantum, method and timing or punishment? There should be widespread awareness of the answer of these questions.
According to law, the adjudicatory authorities alone have authority to hear the complaints, try the contentions and draw the conclusions as liability and penalty. So every punishment including the corporal punishment, especially envisages a legal process and appropriate authority to fix the guilt according to the established and enforceable law; not otherwise. It is both a crime and a civil wrong for holding some one guilty and inflicting penalty, without legal authority. Unfortunately in our country the education system itself promotes corporal punishment. The teacher is assumed a respectful and thus powerful position. This power includes power to inflict corporal punishment.
A Public Interest Litigation was filed by Parents Forum and Meaningful Education (AIR 2001 Del 212), challenging the provisions of the Delhi School Education Rules 1973 providing for corporal punishment to a student. The rule 37 states the form of disciplinary measures as may be adopted as detention during the break, for neglect of class work, but no detention shall be beyond school hours, secondly to those students who attained age of 14 years as a fine, expulsion and rustication. It states that corporal punishment may be given by the head of the school in cases of persisting impertinence or rude behaviour towards teachers, physical violence, intemperance and serious forms of misbehaviour with other students. It contains some exceptions like corporal punishment should not inflicted on the students who are in ill-health. It shall not be severe or excessive and shall be so administered so as not to cause bodily injury. It imposes a limit of ten strokes with cane on student’s hand with a condition that such a punishment be recorded in the Conduct Register of such a student. The government justified the rule as necessary for inculcating discipline. The Division Bench of Delhi High Court held that corporal punishment was not keeping with a child’s dignity. Justice Anil Dev Singh and Justice Mukundakam Sharma, said that it was cruel to subject a child to physical violence in school in the name of discipline or education. It was held that inflicting physical punishment on a child is not in consonance with his or her right of life guaranteed by Article 21 of Indian Constitution. “Just because child is small he or she
cannot be denied of these rights.... Even animals are protected against cruelty. Our children are surely cannot be worse off than animals” said the High Court. The Court also said that there had been instances where children have been traumatized and beaten in schools causing grave injuries to them on account of their innocent pranks, mistakes and mischief.
Recently in Tamil Nadu, the Education Minister advised parents to pursue remedies for mental and physical torture. The Schools were instructed to avoid corporal punishment (The Hindu, 18th June 2003). A fifth Standard student was allegedly caned for being a slow writer. New set of revised Tamil Nadu Education Rules had been framed wherein the Rule 51 is replaced with a provision recommending every child to be given an opportunity to learn error of his or her ways through corrective measures. While making it clear that the school shall not cause mental or physical pain to the child. The imposition and suspension from class are some of the corrective measures suggested. However, these rules did not define torture and punitive measures were not prescribed for violations. A 16 year old boy Ram Abhinav, a student of class 10 in Southern City of Chennai committed suicide after allegedly being thrashed by a teacher for skipping school on his birth day. He left a note saying that he was killing himself because he did not want to go to school.
Goa Assembly passed recently (30th April 2003) Goa Children’s Act, 2003 to ban the corporal punishment.
In the light of the above, law and legal system is expected to protect the children from abuse of authorities either at home or at schools or at systems of administration of justice duly considering their childhood, innocence and incapacity to understand. Children below seven years are exempted from criminal liability. Their act is not treated as an offence at all. This means that there can be no corporal punishment even under penal provisions based on the principles of doli incapaxi. Similar exemption is extended to children of above seven years and under twelve of immature understanding under Section 83 of IPC.
In essence, a child cannot be subjected to ordinary methods of physical punishments including imprisonment for the offences owing to their age and incapacity of formulating a malicious intention. Thus for being a student and having a committed a wrong of not doing home work or violating a dress code, should not invite any corporal punishment.
Indian Penal Code Section 88 protects an act which is not intended to cause death, done by consent in good faith for person’s benefit. Master chastising pupil fall under this clause. A head teacher who administers in good faith a moderate and reasonable corporal punishment to a pupil to enforce discipline in school is protected by this section and such an act is not crime under Section 323.
Section 89 of Indian Penal Code protects an act by guardian or by consent of guardian done in good faith for benefit of child under 12 years. However the same section says that this exception will not extend to cause death, or attempting to cause death, causing grievous hurt. These provisions extend to teachers having quasi-parental authority i.e., consent or delegation of authority from parents also, of course, with exceptions. Using excessive force, causing serious injury, purpose being very unreasonable can turn the act of the guardian or teacher with the consent of guardian, an offence, because such incidents are outside the scope of “good faith”.
Juvenile Justice Act, 2000
Section 23 of new Juvenile Justice Act, 2000 provides punishment for cruelty to juvenile or child. Whoever, having the actual charge of or control over, a juvenile or the child, assaults, abandons, exposes or willfully neglects the juvenile or causes or procures him to be assaulted, abandoned, exposed or neglected in a manner likely to cause such juvenile or the child unnecessarily mental or physical suffering shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or fine, or with both.
This section has no exceptions to exempt parents or teachers. Though it is intended to punish cruelty by those in authority, it equally applies to parents and teachers also. The whole purpose of the Juvenile Justice Act 2000 is to translate the objectives and rights enshrined in Convention on Child Rights which include separation of juveniles in conflict with law from ordinary judicial proceedings to avoid corporal punishment.
Child Battery The Child battery is one of the serious forms of domestic violence, over which the controls are not specified, in penal systems till Juvenile Justice legislation came in 1986, which is now replaced by Act of 2000. The principles of criminal liability are not totally absent as they could be inferred from different ambiguous provisions prior to these Acts also. This provision should be used to control the child battery at homes and schools.
