Washiali says: Line up those tots and whip them to shape

What you need to know:

  • This idea of reasonable chastisement leads to a slippery slope. What force is to be considered reasonable?
  • If fear is such a good deterrent against indiscipline, why not sanction ducking stools against students since they are more effective and leave fewer marks?
  • The reason more students are dropping out is that more students go to school. The rates of completion are going up while the ones for dropping out are dropping. This tells us, in part, that if we remove the threat of physical violence, students may be more willing to go to school

As we struggle upwards, trying to build a fairer, more equitable society which respects the rights of everyone, a voice from the Old Testament calls out for retribution. Mumias MP Benjamin Washiali wants the cane reintroduced in the classroom, a full decade after it was banned.

He comes from Mumias, so he is bound to be interested in cane. I was just hoping that it would be sugar cane, not canes in the classroom.

It is sad, really, to see one trotting out an argument after it was conclusively defeated. Some of us are talking of footpaths and dirt trails while the rest dream of autobahns and vapour trails. At a time when computing is being co-opted into the classroom and teachers are thinking of curriculum and software that will stimulate senses and engage optical rods, here comes an MP talking of an altogether different rod.

The sad thing, though, is that he speaks for a sizable part of the population. Almost on cue, as soon as the news of his lobbying efforts to introduce corporal punishment were reported — interestingly from a school, a bit like going to Hiroshima to talk about resuming nuclear weapons tests — the letters came in.

One piece to the editor helpfully suggested that a standardised bamboo rod be introduced and handed over to teachers everywhere.

At a time when we do not have enough chalk or books, we should definitely prioritise the purchase of bamboo rods for meting out violence against students. Possibly it will come with a user manual and instructions: 1: Make student bend over. 2: Apply cane with reasonable force. 3: Rinse and repeat (ignore wailing). Young children today are cruising for a bruising and angling for a strangling. Line them up, whip them hard.

This idea of reasonable chastisement leads to a slippery slope. What force is to be considered reasonable? The idea to use a standardised cane does not take into account things like the force that delivers the strokes. In the hands of an enthusiastic teacher, a standardised cane could still lead to injury.

Why use the cane only? We could get creative. Submerging their little heads under water for short periods of time would work better than thrashings. In the documentary Marjoe, Marjoe Gortner talks of how his mother used simulated drownings to get him to memorise biblical verses for his evangelical ministry at the age of five.

It worked wonders and soon he was touring the country preaching, making shedloads of money, and officiating weddings at the age of eight. Simulated drownings are both scarier and leave no mark as they do not bruise the skin. They are, perhaps, more efficient than whipping.

If fear is such a good deterrent against indiscipline, why not sanction ducking stools against students since they are more effective and leave fewer marks?

In his memoir Hitch-22, Christopher Hitchens talked of how he was moved from a school while he was younger because his parents realised that he reflexively flung a protective arm upwards whenever an elderly male walked towards him. These reflexes were as a result of the constant flagellation he endured in school.

Is there a worse sight than the cringing, subservient, and protective posture one adapts when one expects to be hit? Is it not sad for it to happen so regularly that one does it reflexively? Is the shame, guilt, and cowardice not a torture on the mind of the young?

“My worry is that more students drop out of school due to drugs, alcohol, or early pregnancies these days compared to two decades ago,” the Mumias lawmaker says.

This is inaccurate. Dropout rates have actually gone down, according to the UN and the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey of 2008. Studies have shown that more students were going to school and completing their classes in 2003 than they were in 1998, and more were going to school in 2003 than they were in 2008.

The reason more students are dropping out is that more students go to school. The rates of completion are going up while the ones for dropping out are dropping. This tells us, in part, that if we remove the threat of physical violence, students may be more willing to go to school.

Is the MP also suggesting that beatings are a viable way to tackle drug addiction? How many whacks from the standardised, ministry-approved cane are needed to reverse heroin addiction? Is caning also a viable prophylactic to combat pregnancy? Can you cane the hormones out of teenagers?

Numerous studies talk of the physical and neurological damage caning does to growing children. It only seems to perpetuate the idea that might is right and sets the stage for future assaults. It increases stress, anxiety, and resentment. The fear of physical punishment only leads children to be more resentful.

A study based on 20 years of research into the matter and published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found that there was a causal link between physical punishment and bad behaviour. So, caning actually leads to what it sets out to prevent.

The real reason parents and teachers hit children is because they are angry and it is the easiest option. Hitting someone is a display of emotional incontinence and intellectual impotence. It shows a loss of self-control. No one ever hits a child after thinking rationally about it. It is usually spur-of-the-moment stuff.

Social acceptance of wife battering and husband battering has waned. Women are no longer considered chattels. They have rights and the law forbids hitting your spouse. Children do not belong to their parents or teachers. They are persons in their own right and have rights.

The usual response, “it worked with me”, is false because, clearly, it did not work as it still left you a retributive and petty individual. Even if beating did you no harm, it also did you little good. The recourse to scriptural aphorisms such as “spare the rod, spoil the child” can be waved away since the same scripture can be quoted to support slavery.

We sadly cannot stop parents from smacking their children. Such a law would be impossible to enforce and either way, locking up parents for hitting their children ends up putting the children at a disadvantage. But we can stop teachers from hitting students. There is a union of teachers that can be used to police this issue and prevent abuse.

Meanwhile, Parliament has a Chief Whip. I am not entirely sure what he does, but I like the sound of his title and I would like to book Mr Washiali for a few private sessions to get him in line.

**********

Egypt will soon have to learn to live within its means

Egypt has been sabre rattling again over the Nile, this time over Ethiopia, which is going ahead with the construction of its Grand Renaissance Dam. The dam is going to cost Egypt up to 30 per cent of its annual allotment of the waters of the Nile and its tributaries. Egyptian president Morsi has said he is leaving all options on the table, which is usually a code for going into Defcon 1.

Egypt should realise that it badly needs an alternative plan to the Nile. Population pressure in the upper Nile states militates against them being subservient to the Pharaohs’ masters. Rulers are more worried about feeding their local populations than Egyptian retribution. Eventually the 10 countries around the Nile will be forced to draw water from this modern-day Styx that threatens death if its waters are drunk.

Last year 40 per cent of all food in Egypt was imported. Even with an absurdly generous agreement, the waters of the Nile are nowhere near enough for food production. Ethiopia drawing 30 per cent of the waters from the Nile is a recipe that will lead to disaster.

The Ethiopian plan seems destined to lead to the very vocal Egyptian mob congregating on Tahrir Square. But even if the Ethiopian plan is scuttled, simple math will tell you that the rate of population growth in Egypt and the upper riparian countries means that the dividends from the Nile will start to decrease. The end, for Egypt, is reduced food security, whichever way you play it.

Egypt should get used to spending less on tanks and more on food imports. It currently outspends all other African countries when it comes to the military. We could even be trading partners and they could buy food from us. We all need to learn to live within our means some day.

Is he right? Send your comments to [email protected]. Blog it at www.nation.co.ke/dn2