September 28, 2021
By: James Kamara-Manneh
Firstly, it is no secret that the educational sectors under the aegis of our dynamic Ministers-Professor Alpha Wurie and Dr. David Moinina Sengeh have taken positive steps to position the state of education to enviable height. There is also huge appreciation from parents whose pockets have been served from buying scratch cards to access results of their kids who had attempted public exams.
However, recent information making rounds on both social and on conventional media have been received with mixed feelings- from parents who think disciplining stubborn kids in school is permissible for them, while others with Western culture think that aborting such norms from the educational sector is welcoming.
Whatever stance one may take depends on the approach to the issue at hand. Taking into cognizance our Africa domestic makeup, where parent believe that if children are not discipline using the rod or other physical inflicted punishment may not send down their message properly.
Some of the political decisions taken by authorities that tend to disregard the views of the majority might undermine the sustenance of such decisions in the long run.
There are many schools that are controlled by the government, while others are privately owned and others receive subsidies from the government. For schools that are located in hard to reach areas, the question is how many have been informed of this development, would those teachers exercise restraints not to use the rod and what are the alternative mensures? There are questions that needs answers and the lack of proper sensitization on this issue will continue to be misunderstood.
A flip side of the debate is to recognize that the infliction of pain and the physical injuries which often result from the use physical punishments can be traumatizing to have undesired outcomes on students’ academic achievement and long-term well-being.
Despite significant evidence that corporal punishment is detrimental to a productive learning environment, there was no prohibition on the use of physical discipline against children in public schools until now, if only proper mechanism is put in place.
One could agree that harsh physical punishments do not improve students’ in-school behavior or academic performance. In fact, one recent study found that in countries where corporal punishment is frequently used, schools have performed worse academically than those countries that prohibit corporal punishment. Sierra Leone is no exception!
Many children who have been subjected to hitting, paddling or other harsh disciplinary practices have reported subsequent problems with depression, fear and anger.
These students frequently withdraw from school activities and disengage academically. It is evidence that victims of corporal punishment often develop “deteriorating peer relationships, difficulty with concentration, lowered school achievement, antisocial behavior, and intense dislike of authority, somatic complaints, a tendency for school avoidance and school drop-out, and other evidence of negative high-risk adolescent behavior.
Another negative effect of Corporal punishment is that it places parents and teachers in positions where they may have to choose between educational advancement and students’ physical well-being. For instance, some parents who learn that their children are being struck at public school find themselves without recourse, unable to effectively opt-out from the practice, and unable to obtain legal or other redress when their children have been paddled against their wishes.
Ultimately some parents find that the only way they can protect their children from physical harm is to withdraw them from school altogether. Similarly, teachers who work in schools where corporal punishment is administered are often reluctant to send disruptive students out of the classroom because they are afraid the students will be beaten.
Moreover, a public school’s use of corporal punishment affects every student in that school, including those who are not personally subjected to hitting or paddling. The prevalent use of physical violence against students creates an overall threatening school atmosphere that impacts students’ ability to perform academically. Often, children who experience or witness physical violence will themselves develop disruptive and violent behaviors, further disturbing their classmates’ learning as well as their own.
Again, Corporal punishment is a destructive form of discipline that is ineffective in producing educational environments in which students can thrive. Rather than relying on harsh and threatening disciplinary tactics, schools and teachers should be encouraged to develop positive behavior supports, which have proven effective in reducing the need for harsh discipline while supporting a safe and productive learning environment.
By abandoning ineffective and brutal disciplinary practices, and by encouraging the adoption of the new anti- Corporal Law, our nation can provide opportunities for all students to achieve academic success in a supportive and safe school environment.
Journalists, Teachers, Politicians, Engineers, Technocrats, doctors, nurses, etc. have all experience corporal punishment in any form. Such has been a wakeup call to us while others developed fear. While in school, the moment a teacher walked into your class fear will overwhelm the entire classroom. Corporal punishment (paddling of the rod) has been of great help to some of us who were stubborn at home, and our parent will ask the teacher to pelt our rums with lashes; by the time we get home good behaviors will begin to manifest.
School teachers are the second most feared parent aside our biological parents and therefore the audacity of removing such from our educational sector, might lead indiscipline within the school environs. While some pupil understands the language of the rod, others do not but the fact remains that corporal punishments such as, beating with a certain number of strokes brings back memories from a playful child, touching of toes under the sun, kneeing down till the end of the first period, hands up and face turn to the blackboard, booing in class are many others have spur up to where we are today. Had it not being for such disciplines some of us in high places of society would not have made it to where we are today.
The high level of hypocrisy on serious national issues such as this will continue to hunts generation upon generations, and the adoption of Western culture into our African setting is another ball game.
While some believe that disciplining our children in schools will violate their human rights and dignity; God’s word instruct parent that “spear the rod you spoil the child,” and it’s added that “foolishness is bound up in the heart of a boy, but the ROD of discipline will remove it far from him.”
The used of the rod can be metaphorical in the sense that it can represent different things for different people. The swish can inflict pain to ensure discipline but instead of that dreaded object new forms of disciplinary mechanism must be supplanted. This is what we must try to have conversation around based on contexts for different schools in different localities.