1. Is it possible to teach senior kids effectively in the English Medium institutions with no corporal punishment?

You’d have to define punishment. If you mean ‘beating’, Yes. If you mean no sanctions at all, No.

2. Why do some teachers punish a lot, and some hardly at all?

Some teachers are gifted and know how to be interesting. Also, some follow their training and use identifiable methods to convey the knowledge. But some score negative on all these points, and resort to violence.

3. What should we parents do when our daughter / son tells us how she / he was severely corporally punished today?

Check out the tale. Find out if there were any others. If there were, team up with their parents and meet the Principal. If it was only your child, meet the Principal, and find out the reason for the singling out of one child. You must not let child punishment go unexamined.

4. Can we take teachers to court for punishing our children?

Again, define punishment carefully. If your child has been bruised or cut, definitely pursue the thing. But use common sense – if it was just a passing once-off clout that happens to have left a mark, let it pass. If it happens often, follow it up indeed.

5. We parents don’t like to use corporal punishment on our small children, but sometimes their behaviour does call for stern measures. Is it ok to ask the teacher to slap the kids?

Not at all. Not at all.

6. Sometimes other parents ask us to join them in protesting some punishment that has been inflicted on their children, though not on ours. What should we do?

Check it out most carefully. Groups tend to exaggerate or misrepresent for the thrill they get – especially the group leader – from the power it all generates. Groups meeting a Principal is ok, but groups shouting at the school office door is rarely a wise approach to discouraging corporal punishment in a school. It teaches the youngsters violence and mobsterism.

7. We recognize that a big number in a classroom can be very trying for a teacher. Some kids really give trouble. Is punishment the only way of responding to that?

Not at all. In Classes up to VII there is a technique called D for L, ie, Discipline for Learning. (Check out #19.) It relies not on fear and power but on love and justice. Check it out on the net.

8. When our kids become teenagers, they give lots of trouble. Is it ok for us parents to punish them?

Not in the corporal sense. If parents are usually not at home when junior returns, the makings of a troublesome youth are already forming. It is crucial that the children know they are loved – and that’s not automatic. It must be visible, tangible, evident at all times.

9. Is psychological punishment ok for a student instead of beating?

No. In many ways it is even worse to treat a youngster in a way that makes her / him feel inferior, or look inferior to other youngsters. Simple things are ok, like having her / him stand up in class, or face the wall – but not if it is accompanied by insults or abuse. Then it becomes really wrong.

10. Some teachers put our children outside the door for misbehaviour. Is that ok?

No. The child is sent to school to learn formal academic stuff, and very often fees are involved. It is an injustice to prevent the child from access to that learning.

 

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