Corporal punishment harms, no good in it
Marks on the legs of a pupil after she was caned by a teacher. Sperius Eradius, a 13-year-old primary school pupil from Tanzania, died on August 27, a few days after being beaten by a teacher. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
Many ‘teachers’ do not beat children for the child’s good but their own, and the personal gratification they derive from it.
- If people were to be punished for all their minor infractions, life would be an horrendous .
But a child should not be punished for making a mistake but intelligently corrected.
A child needs to be disciplined, corrected, shown the right way.
There is an horrific misconception that beating children is obeying a command from God. Another ignorant belief is that corporal punishment beats hell out of a child.
There’s also one that claims it serves the best interests of the child. Yet others camouflage their mental demons by performing the abuse in God’s name.
Many ‘teachers’ do not beat children for the child’s good but their own, and the personal gratification they derive from it. Having a classroom filled wall-to-wall with ‘whipping boys’ is a godsend — a perk of the job.
Parents generally don’t retaliate when their ‘gift from God’ returns after school or madrasah all bruised, sore, feeling less of a person and howling inwardly for the brutality to stop.
They, unfortunately, had it instilled into them the concept that when a child makes a mistake it need to be punished so that the mistake is not repeated.
RESOLVING MISTAKES
Punishment (read aggression, corporal punishment) is not the solution to resolving mistakes.
If people were to be punished for all their minor infractions, life would be an horrendous one non-stop conveyor belt of cruelty and not worth living.
Mistakes are acceptable to grown-ups…they make them all the time. But nobody beats them for it. Why is this cruelty reserved for children?
It is a birth right of every child to make mistakes on their highway to learning. But a child should not be punished for making a mistake but intelligently corrected. It is called discipline. A child needs to be disciplined, corrected, shown the right way.
All of this horror, pain and rivers of tears over the years can be attributed mainly to the mistranslation of one word: ‘Rod’. Most people know ‘rod’ to be a thin straight bar, especially made of wood or metal. The hackneyed expression, repeated throughout the ages, is: “Spare the rod and spoil the child.”
SPARES THE ROD
We are told it’s there in black and white in the “Good Book”. Another one says, ‘He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.” That is the licence to beat a child mercilessly. But in Hebrew, the word has a totally different meaning. Psalms 23:4 says, “...thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me”. That makes sense.
The shepherd’s rod or staff is used to encourage, guide and discipline the sheep towards a desired direction, not beat, hurt or damage them. No shepherd would intentionally damage his stock and reduce his profits.
The correct interpretation of the proverb, therefore, should read, “spare good guidance and spoil the child” and “he who spares good guidance hates his son but he who loves him is careful to discipline him”.
THREAT TO SOCIETY
A damaged child is a broken adult and a potential threat to society. The jails are full of broken adults who were damaged as children. Those who administer corporal punishment are not only heartless lawbreakers but work against the wishes of God.
Islam strictly prohibits physical punishment. Christians can go through the Bible and not find one instance where Mary and Joseph beat their son Jesus. Try to imagine Muhammad or Jesus beating the children that they taught!
Sir Frank is a human rights advocate, award-winning writer and former newspaper editor and publisher. [email protected]
