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by Kushani Ratnayake

The use of Corporal Punishment in homes and schools has been widely debated.

Primary students - in their case too Corporal Punishment could be a spoiler

Some believe it is a means of discipline while others call it abuse. Nevertheless, it is harmful to children. It could lead to emotional and physical problems. Corporal Punishment can occur anywhere and specifically includes whipping, beating and flogging. Sometimes teachers could take their personal frustrations out on the child.

Corporal Punishment has been defined as the infliction of pain by a teacher or other education officials on the body of a student as a penalty for doing something which has been disapproved of by the punishers. At home Corporal Punishment is often used to mould a child into behaving in a perceived moral way. Parents sometimes do not see the other side of the problem. Children crave for love and kindness. Therefore, parents should be more concerned with the emotions of the child.

The failure of school officials to protect children from violence in schools has denied them their right to be free of all forms of physical or mental violence and affects the full enjoyment of their right to education. Children who get spanked regularly are more likely to resort to cheating or lying, be disobedient in school, bully others and show less remorse for wrong doing.

According to National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) Chairman Professor Harendra de Silva, three out of ten children subjected to Corporal Punishment can develop psychological problems that can last for a long time and most juvenile delinquents were subjected to Corporal Punishment during their childhood. "If we need to build a nation without violence, we need to prevent Corporal Punishment", he said.

The period of childhood is a unique and critical stage of life. Children the world over share the same basic needs of safety, health, nurturance and dignity. Though in some cases Corporal Punishment is used to discipline an unruly child, it is most often than not used by adults to show their superiority and power over young innocent children. Educating children is more effective than mere punishment.

In this day and age students tend take revenge when they get any kind of punishment at school or at home. In the past when a student got punished, one can be assured that because of the fear of the punishment he will behave properly but now times have changed. A child can turn wild and there is a possibility of taking revenge from the punishers.

"By advising children or educating them one can teach them to behave properly. It is through kindness that we can make our children listen. It is important for a parent to understand and listen to the child. Children often tend to misbehave. Parents should understand the nature of the child before punishing him. If the child is sensitive and emotional most often Corporal Punishment can cause side effects".

"First of all we have to think of the differences between physical abuse and Corporal Punishment. In physical abuse the child may get injured due to beating, which is punishable by the courts. When we take the similarities in Corporal Punishment and physical abuse, in both you hit the child. "In physical abuse you hit the child and the child might break a bone or may have a scar. In Corporal Punishment the injuries are not visible", Prof. Harendra de Silva said.

"What is wrong in physical abuse and Corporal Punishment is the long standing emotional effects on the child. It must also be remembered that children often lie for the fear of being beaten. Beating a child causes pain, injury, humiliation, anxiety, anger and feeling of vengeance which could cause long term psychological effects. Physically abused children may, as adults, display anti-social and violent behaviour.

They may also be aggressive towards their spouse and children. Research has revealed that those who have been beaten as children and those who have beaten their children in the past are the most resistant to change. It has also been shown that a level of substance abuse and suicide is often associated", he said.

"Throughout the generations we have justified Corporal Punishment. There are three important elements, first of all, the child cannot protest and he does not know about his rights. The second issue is that we always justify that we are hitting the child because we want to discipline the child or because we want to give him a good education. So there is a justification. The third reason is that children and parents hide themselves because of the shame".

"If you justify Corporal Punishment as a cultural norm,it does not comply with our religions. We have a situation where beating children has become institutionalised and legalised, like some schools and hostels. Even today beating is legalised by the court system. Hitting a child can quieten the child on a temporary basis or for a short time".

"Children need discipline and particularly need to learn self discipline. Physical punishment is a very ineffective form of discipline. When you ask children why they were beaten they would always say 'for doing something wrong', but they would not remember the specific misbehaviour. When children are smacked they would not hear your explanations. When children are hurt and humiliated, they are 'angry' rather than being 'sorry'."

"A smack shows that you are angry, but not what you are angry about. If you take a classroom or a family it is the same. Children are beaten over and over again for the same "wrong doings". If beating is corrective, it should not be that way. Those who frequently misbehave will develop a resistance to beating and may even laugh when beaten. They are often respected by peers in class for being tough, which makes their misbehaviour worse", said Prof de Silva.

"On the other hand, children who usually behave well may suffer deep and disproportionate trauma when beaten and humiliated which may affect them for a long time. Some children may refuse to go to school, not because they are beaten but because they are emotionally affected when others are beaten.

There are some people who get mentally satisfied by beating children or sometimes they do it just to get sexually satisfied".

"When you hit a child you can do it for several issues. One is because you are angry. First you hit the child and then you feel sorry about the action you have done. When you feel sorry you try to forget what you have done. Then to comfort the child you give him a small present or a hug. This will do harm to the child.

The child may think that he can do any kind of misbehaving and then can get through with it quite easily" he said.

"Many of us who may be guilty of smacking our children or students may have done it because we were continuing a practice of the previous generations and because we were not aware of the bad effects of Corporal Punishment. However, if we continue this practice after knowing the facts, then we should feel really guilty."

The International Day for the 'Elimination of Corporal Punishment' of Children was held on April 30 for the first time.

Incidents reported to the NCPA in 2002 numbered 16 while in 2001 it was 11. The Department of Education has also issued a circular on the prevention of Corporal Punishment. "When it comes to child abuse incidents, we always try to keep the child with his or her family unless the perpetrator does live in the same house. The safest place for the child is his home. At present, both juvenile delinquents and child abuse victims are put into probationary institutions but arrangements should be made to stop this practice and keep victims separate from the juvenile delinquents" DIG Sirisena Herath said.

While school principals contacted by the "Daily News" were reluctant to comment on the issue, according to a parent, Corporal Punishment only makes children more violent. There is a possibility of taking revenge from the punisher. In this way the problem becomes grave. "As a parent I do not think that by giving Corporal Punishment one can teach them to be obedient. Another factor is that children refuse to obey their parents. They think wrong of their parents from a small age. This situation can create a gap between parents and children," she said.

Though parents bring their children into this world, children too have a right to protection from physical and other violence whether it be by parents, teachers or others.

The Convention of the Rights of the Child, to which Sri Lanka is a signatory, and the Penal Code amendment of 1995 provide legal protection and recognise children as individuals entitled to human rights and dignity, along with adults.

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