Spare the rod
Improve the child

A recent study by Unicef has found that a growing number of children experience some degree of ‘violent discipline and psychological aggression’ at the hands of their caregivers, both at home and school, writes Shobita Shivshankar

Corporal punishment will be firmly excluded from the educational system in order to have a child-centric approach."— The national policy on education, 1986.

The scenario nearly 25 years later...

On February 12, 2010, Rouvanjit Rawla, a 13-year-old class Vlll student of Kolkata’s prestigious La Martiniere for Boys’ school, committed suicide after being allegedly caned by the school principal. `A0Though the cops arrested principal Sunirmal Chakravarthy and three other teachers, they were unable to book them for abetting suicide as the charge could not be substantiated.

Rouvanjit’s suicide is not a sole exception. In a study last year, children’s organisation Plan International revealed a shocking fact that almost 65 per cent of students admitted to some form of corporal punishment at school. And, at times, such violence against young people could prove to be fatal.

In April 2009, Shanno, an 11-year-old girl, slipped into coma and later died after her teacher made her stand in the sun for a long period of time. Her fault? She failed to recite the full English language alphabets from A to Z!

In a country that has traditionally exhorted high values of the guru-shishya parampara, we often hear of schoolteachers, whose barbarity makes people shudder. The growing incidence of violence by teachers is a phenomenon that an increasing number children have been forced to live with.

We have all read newspaper reports how trivial matters like not wearing proper uniform, talking in class or not doing homework can trigger off brutal reaction in teachers.

But teachers are not the only villains. A recent Unicef study has found that a growing number of kids experience some degree ‘violent discipline and psychological aggression’ at the hands of their parents, while others suffer some form of physical punishment.

Rouvanjit Rawla, a 13-year-old class Vlll student of Kolkata’s La Martiniere for Boys’ school, committed suicide after being allegedly caned by the school principal. His suicide is not a sole exception. In a study last year, children’s organisation Plan International revealed that almost 65 per cent students admitted to some form of corporal punishment at school. And at times such violence against young people could prove to be fatal

The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) requires states to protect children from "all forms of physical or mental violence" while in the care of parents or others.`A0It requires discipline in schools to be "administered in a manner consistent with the child’s human dignity." Children everywhere must never be subjected to "torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment"

However, many parents are of the opinion that some form of corporal punishment is necessary to discipline children. The study has found that a number of parents use psychological violence like threatening little children that they would be turned out of the house and abandoned for good.

Research has shown that the different forms of violence resorted to by parents and teachers can have a direct impact on the child’s psyche, which can manifest itself in low performance in school, poor cognitive capacity and future negative behaviour when kids become adults.

But despite a number of high-powered studies, the fact is that physical and psychological violence by parents and teachers against children is a commonday affair. Ask young kids and they are usually full of such stories of abusive treatment at home and in the classroom.

Many parents vent their anger against children by hitting them — Thinkstockphotos/Getty Images

A teacher at one of the New Delhi’s schools was apprehended for possessing a special cane that he used to whip his students with. At another well-known Delhi school, a simple request for a change of stream in class XI was met with severe thrashing. In yet one more school in New Delhi, a group of nursery girls were beaten up with a badminton racquet for talking and giggling in class.

Some years ago, 14-year-old Divya Pandey of Lucknow arrived in school, not wearing the correct uniform. She was hit severely by her teacher for this offence. Divya came back home, in a dazed state and died the same evening.

Or take the case of 15-year-old Delhi boy Ojaswi Khanna, who forgot to bring a compass for his maths class. He was felled by two mighty blows on the face by his teacher. Ojaswi sank to the ground with unbearable pain shooting through his left ear. When the parents took him to an ENT specialist, the doctor told them that he had lost all hearing in his left ear because of the blows he received.

Why does the situation ever deteriorate to the extent that a parent or a teacher needs to strike a child? Says Dr Janaki Vishwanathan a New Delhi-based psychiatrist, "Sometimes, the pressure of work and problems at home might make parents and teachers vent their frustrations on children."

Retired academician S. C. Arora adds, "Schools have increased the number of students to unmanageable extents. Hence, whenever there is a bit of indiscipline, teachers feel free to crush it by violence." Crusader-educationist Sonam Wangchuk says in one of his essays, "The teachers consider corporal punishment their right rather than their weakness. Even many parents vent their anger against children by hitting them."

While it is a fact that incidents of indiscipline among young people have increased over the years, parents and teachers seem to be at a loss for methods to reform such rebels. Says Dr Vishwanathan, "By resorting to corporal punishment, parents and teachers give undue attention to the negative traits of a child. Stubborn kids should be dealt with a lot of patience. A lot more can be achieved with kindness than with force."

While many parents are vociferous votaries of proper counselling in schools, they themselves would not hesitate in resorting to physical and psychological punishment when it comes to disciplining their own children. Such violent means can leave deep scars on a child’s psyche.

According to academicians, there is an urgent need to analyse the effects of corporal punishment on the growth process of a child. Child counsellor, Vinita Pawan, who has worked with children subjected to physical punishment by teachers, says, "Studies have shown that in the long run beating and bruising a child may result in negative personality traits. It may make the child either very submissive or very defiant when he or she grows up. In a class of 50 if one child is beaten up, 49 others are looking on. It’s a trauma for other kids as well."

Trivial matters like not wearing proper uniform, talking in class or not doing homework can trigger off brutal reaction in teachers

According to Peter Newell, coordinator, Global Initiative, Unicef, there is a great deal of research of varying quality into the harmful potential effects of corporal punishment. According to him, it can be a significant factor in the development of violent attitudes and actions in childhood and adult life. It can make a child grow up with low self-esteem, depression, delinquency and all the things we do not want for our children.

The Unicef study quoting the Convention on the Rights of the Child states that it leaves no room for justification of violent or degrading forms of discipline. Governments need to enact laws to combat and prevent physical violent punishment on children, according to the International Child Rights Body.

Will the Unicef study have any impact on the violent behaviour of some parents and teachers towards children? The chances look bleak, considering the fact that despite clear-cut laws, violence towards children in schools and households is a common everyday affair. Corporal punishment has become a part of our drab educational system. Many teachers, fearless of the law and the consequences, use their hands and rods freely inflicting physical harm without realising the psychological harm they are inflicting on the child. — NF