Sachita is furious. Her daughter, a student in the third class, has come back from school shaken and distressed. Her class teacher has hit a girl in the class with a steel ruler, enough to cause bruising. Sachita’s daughter now refuses to go to school. Sachita is right in being angry with a school system which allows corporal punishment. What should you do when faced with such a situation?

What is corporal punishment?

It is every parent’s duty to protect a child against physical abuse. How do we define corporal punishment in schools? The National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights has said that corporal punishment is any act of violence "wherein the child feels loss of dignity." It does not have to be necessarily severe slapping or beating with the hands or a stick. It can also involve having to kneel in front of the class or in the grounds under the hot sun. When the child is humiliated to the point of intense shame, the child should be considered to have been abused.

Is corporal punishment justified?

Some teachers and parents have been brought up with the old adage, “Spare the stick and spoil the child.” It has been traditionally dinned into parents and teachers that slapping, spanking and beating the child is the only way to modify bad behaviour and enforce discipline. Is this true?

A popular misconception is that physical punishment is one way of teaching good behaviour and can actually build moral character. But can the fear of being hit make a child perform better? Or will it only cloud her mind and take away from her the freedom to enjoy and imbibe knowledge in a conducive atmosphere? Is it not wrong to think that if a child is troubled or rebellious enough to cause problems in school, she will become better by losing her dignity to an adult who has unchallenged power over her? Is it not more possible that when that child is made to feel powerless and is hit or punished by the adult who is supposed to be her mentor and guide, her protector and teacher, she will lose faith in herself and society?

Elizabeth Gershoff, Ph.D, reported (in a study published in 2002, which took into account 60 years of research on corporal punishment), that corporal punishment may bring about immediate compliance but failed to bring about compliance in the long run. More importantly, corporal punishment was linked with increased rates of aggression, delinquency, mental health problems, problems in relationships with parents and teachers, and the likelihood of being physically abused.