Is Corporal Punishment Lingering in your Backyard?

“Corporal Punishment”, a word that seems so 20^th century.  An idea that lives only in history books. A terrifying evil concept that doesn’t belong in classrooms. Then comes the sudden news “Student physically punished by the teacher in the UAE”.  Then comes the surprising horror associated with it.  Corporal punishment?  But how? This is 2015? Where is 21st-century classroom management?

To many people, corporal punishment is a concept of the past. For some, a failed animalistic experiment that should never be repeated. Then, there are the few who suggest it was necessary and it worked.

On Monday, October 19, 2015, the Ministry of Education in the UAE announced that it would open a student and parent hotline to report abuse to authorities after a third video emerged of a teacher hitting a student six times with full force. The teacher was merely given a suspension while an investigation continues.  While a suspension would not seem much, and we would ultimately expect the teacher to be fired or perhaps even banned from teaching again, we might be surprised to find that many countries still allow corporal punishment in schools.

Corporal punishment tends to be associated with schools and areas in development and not with developed countries. However, we do not need to go far to find corporal punishment an acceptable practice. Currently, nineteen US states allow corporal punishment in private and public schools. If that isn’t shocking enough, the civil rights data collection estimates that 184,527 students were physically disciplined in 2009 (the most recent data collected). The numbers show that boys are more likely than girls to receive corporal punishment. In addition, various studies have suggested that corporal punishment is detrimental to the emotional and mental future of students, as children express having anxiety and addictions in the future (Effects of Corporal Punishment ).

Public opinion seems to lean against the idea of corporal punishment in schools, but a few agree that “light” corporal punishment should be permitted at home for discipline purposes. In other words,”Don’t touch my child, I am the only person allowed to physically discipline them”.  However, some courts support and permit schools to discipline children under the “In Loco Parentis”  law which clearly states that schools have the same rights over as child as the child’s parents have.

As there may be a great divide in thinking with regards to corporal punishment, as teaching practitioners, it is expected we set an example to the class and ultimately to the world. If you scorn your pupil for hitting his friend, but then you proceed to hit him then your message is confusing if not hypocritical in nature.  Peaceful negotiation, setting challenges and most importantly setting an example are what drive 21st-century teaching. Corporal punishment should stay where it belongs, ultimately in the past.