The
use of corporal punishment as a method of discipline has been well
established throughout
history
across many cultures and continents. In recent decades, the use of
physical discipline in more
developed
countries has diminished in popularity. Consequence and reasoning
based methods of
discipline
have become more wide spread throughout the more educated world. I
believe corporal
punishment
is an ineffective method of discipline. Corporal punishment teaches
violence,
encourages
the use of weapons, diminishes the effect of reasoning as
discipline, and can cause physical
and
psychological harm.
History
has taught us over and over that violence only produces violence.
Wars have been
fought,
treaties have been written and broken, cities have been destroyed,
families have been torn apart,
tears
have fallen, blood shed and nothing good has come out of it. Corporal
punishment using canes is
like
a war. It is a war between an adult
and a child, only teaching the child violence, and that
frustration and anger are the
way to success, and the only way of resolution. Time after time, I
have
seen rages, and anger expressed
through corporal punishment at schools, orphanages, and homes. Like
a war, the person punishing
wants to make everyone think that they are most powerful and
intimidating, when truly, they
are not. In most cases of punishment in the less- developed
countries,
caning is used as a disciplinary
measure on a normal basis. If one is misbehaving, they do not get
scolded
or talked to, but caned. Judicial
canings in Kenya were administered in prison and applied to the bare
buttocks. The procedure was inherited from British rule, and has
continued since then, spreading worldwide. n. However the human
rights committee has “recommended to over 120 States in all
continents that they should abolish all corporal punishment,
including in the home, and develop public education campaigns to
promote positive, non-violent discipline in the family, schools and
other institutions.” This
method of discipline is setting an example to children that physical
abuse is “O.K”. Once a little boy or girl see's his/her authority
figure “punishing” someone, they may think it is the only
solution, or a game of some sort, so that they can grab a stick and
hit the other children as well. Not only does corporal punishment
set a poor example, but encourages the use of weapons. If they are
allowed to use a thick stick to hit someone, why not a metal rod?
Why not just use a knife or a gun and call it “punishment”? If
you want to control someone, does that mean you are supposed to hit
them to control them? It is all the same abuse that can possibly
harm, or kill. If an adult is extremely angry with a child, it could
go as far as a cane to the head, causing brain damage , or death,
resulting in jail. Thirdly, it will become a routine in which a child
is used to the abuse, so they will want to use it as a discipline for
their children and/or spouse, and so on. If it is not a worry, and
corporal punishment is a regular thing, then it is like starting a
war, shedding blood and tears, families being torn apart all because
of thinking that it is right to harm someone for their wrongs.
Whether its a war between nations, or the battle of wills between an
authority figure and child, violence cannot resolve conflict.
Logically, since violence cannot resolve conflict, corporal
punishment is an ineffective method of discipline and rather a
torturous act.
Secondly, corporal punishment
diminishes the effect of reasoning as a discipline. If you are to
try and reason with a child, and
scold them non-physically when a child is used to caning, it is hard
for
the child to listen to other
reasonable disciplines. Most children would then not take you
seriously
because they feel you are not
actually disciplining them. From the time a child is 0 to 5 years of
age, is
when the child seems to learn the
most. If a child is caned at a young age, the child then learns it
is
“normal” to abuse children,
and when he/she is caned so frequently, the child will not think of
it as
discipline, but normality, so
therefore the lesson is not learned. Perhaps the authority figure
wanted to
try
other methods of discipline, then the child will not take the
authority figure seriously, because they have never really learned
what discipline is, but what pain is. As for schools,corporal
punishment using a cane has been banned in the education act , but
was never enforced. “Corporal punishment in Kenyan schools was
originally banned by administrative decree in 1996, but this was
never enforced. It was announced in 2000 that the ban was now to be
taken seriously. The legal provisions under which caning had been
permitted were formally repealed in 2001 “ Yet still the tortuous
acts still go on throughout homes and schools. ”Reports in 2002 and
2004 and 2007 made it clear that many schools were ignoring the new
law and that CP continued to be applied widely. “ For most children
across Eastern Africa, and other countries more in the third world,
caning is used to discipline in schools, at home, or even at a police
station. There is never a reasonable talk, on what the child has done
wrong, and what the right thing to do is, but instead, the cane comes
out. A child may learn to cane their children as well, but since
his/her authority has caned them, and they have never understood why,
or for what, they may just use it for anything. Either way, they are
using violence, not teaching what is right or wrong, and this leads
to a chain of abusive family. Logically, if reasoning is removed and
weapons are encouraged, then corporal punishment is an ineffective
method of discipline, and torturous and harmful to any human being.
Finally, corporal punishment
using a cane can cause physical and psychological damage to any
human
being. Years ago, physical
discipline was the preferred method to disciplining a child. Whether
it was in school, or at home, it
seemed to be the more popular choice. In the childcare’s act
written part
by the parliament in Africa, it
states that any physical and psychological harm is not taken and
against
the
rights and codes in part 2 in pages 586. “Part II therefore makes
provisions for the rights of the child including the right to life,
privacy, freedom from torture.” However, in recent years,
these types of discipline are not permitted in Canada, however, in
other parts of the world things are so different. In Canada, you may
spank your child, but corporal punishment using a cane, is not
permitted one bit. Years have passed, and things have changed on
many levels. Most authority figures prefer verbal discipline,
(however they must be cautious with the words that they use), a firm
talking, a time-out, grounding, or removal of privileges from a child
are effective ways of helping a child go down the right path in life.
To hit a child thinking you are only disciplining them is not an
excuse, it's abuse. All parents want their child to grow up and be a
strong, confident, loving, kind, and successful person. They do not
want their child to grow up, rob a bank, abuse their spouse and
children, or to take advantage of someone using physical violence,
and possibly end up in jail. Little things you may teach your child
at a younger age may stick with them throughout life. If you abuse
your child, there is always that psychological pain they may have, as
well as insecurity. “Children
feel humiliated and degraded; they become angry and resentful towards
those who punish them.” They
could also turn into an abuser. Do you want to picture your little 5
year old Allie, as a child abuser? It may be impossible for a child
to forget about that day when their father or mother hit them a
little too hard and made them bleed, or the day their mother or
father hit their hand and broke it, leaving scars and pain. Not only
does this method of discipline leave high anger rate and
psychological harm, but corporal punishment with canes has left
scars on the flesh,because of one person not knowing how strong they
really are compared to the thickness of a child's skin. There have
been many stories of a teacher, or parent caning their child, but not
realizing their force, and harming the child very badly, causing more
conflict, and more shed blood. The war is never over , if violence
is involved, because violence cannot resolve conflict. Logically, if
it causes physical and psychological damage, then corporal punishment
is an ineffective method of discipline.
In
conclusion, I believe corporal punishment an ineffective method of
discipline because
it
teaches violence, diminishes the
effect of using reasoning based methods as discipline, and can cause
physical and psychological harm.
As time goes on, and wars still are being fought, families torn
apart,
tears falling, and blood
shedding, I believe we can stop the violence. Violence only produces
violence,
and violence cannot resolve
conflict.
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