Segun Ayinde, Abeokuta
Corporal punishment is a form of punishment that involves physical pain or discomfort, usually inflicted on the body as a means of discipline or correction. It may includes physical beatings or floggings, slapping or hitting and forced physical labor or exercise as well as physical restraint or confinement.
This kind of punishment is often inflicted on a child by their parents but mostly teachers in private or public schools to discipline a student, who could not absorb or remember a particular topic or to punish them for committing an offence that is against the etiquette of the school or moral conducts.
But, sadly this punishment often leads to irreparable injuries on the body of a student which might taunt him for life, making him more aggressive and lack empathy to inflict pain on others – just like the narcissists childhood trauma which makes them monsters to close relations especially their children and wives leading to domestic violence at homes.
Aside injuries, these punishments can also lead to student’s death, for instance in Ogun State, the case of Monday Arijo, the Senior Secondary School 2 of Obada Grammar School who reportedly died after being subjected to 162 frog jumps and 24 strokes of cane allegedly inflicted by a teacher, Azamdjo Elijah on the instruction of the school principal.
This, among over 150 cases of children, who were beaten to death by adults, according to the first black principal of Day Waterman College, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Mr Ahmed Kamal, during an interview, were pending in Nigeria courts, saying that this happens due to the lack of emotional control by a teacher who believes he or she has an authority to beat or punish a student for any offence.
Kamal explained that the implications of beating or corporal punishment on a student have led to increased broken homes in our society where emotionally and physical abuse abound in marriages resulting to rising cases single father and mother in our country.
He maintained that teachers who indulge in corporal punishment were quacks despite their academic qualifications, while calling on governments of the 36 state of the federation to out law corporal punishment both in private and public schools because to its damage impact on students which is irreparable and could make the male students violent to their wives and children at homes when they grow up.
The educationist, who divulged that although there had been no research to prove that students that are beaten or given corporal punishment behave better than those who were not, lamenting that Nigeria now has a generation of learners who had experienced corporal punishment resulting to the current high rate of divorce in the nation.
He stated that such punishment could cause brain damage for a student as some teachers were found of smacking strokes of the cane on student’s head, stressing that such learner could find it difficult to assimilate well in the class and most of the teachers that beat students on anger impulse often ended up regretting when they calm down.
The principal identified love and empathy as only virtues needed by a teacher to discipline a student to correct or impact knowledge effectively on them, noting that if teachers behave well and built a good relationship with the students they would not only build an excellent family in marriages, but the teacher would also benefit from them when they become great in life.
He, therefore, argued that no country in the world could grow better beyond its school system and its quality of teachers who educate and produce students that become leaders of tomorrow, noting that if corporal punishment is the motive for impacting knowledge on them, the male students could end up a violent man to his wife and the wife abusive to the children who might become violent leaders inflict suffering and hardship on the citizenry.
Kamal said “It was quite unfortunate situation such is alien to education in a civilize environment because there is no evidence today that show that children that were flogged behave better than the children that are not flogged. We were flooded in our generation. Generation that are in charge of Nigeria today with all the problems we have in Nigeria are the generation that were massive flogged, if that was a cure for misconduct we should have been eldorado by now, because generation of people with age 50 or 60 were running Nigeria today were flogged.”
“There is no evidence, there is no research, so nobody has been able to produce a research evidence that those who are flogged are better than those who are not flogged. Corporal punishment is what leads to marital violent, because children see violence, they learn violence and they practice violence and I believe that flogging begat flogging and beating begat beating if you beat your children they will beat their wives, them only reason why you beat them is that you presume you have authority over them and they have authority over their wives and children and they will continue to beat them.”
“I think some teachers despite being professional certified and qualified are quacks because of this corporal punishments which i think is a quick fix, where the teachers are angry and they want to deal with the child quickly because they are angry but when they settle down they release what the child did was not really bad, but when the act on the spur of the moments, they can’t figure it, and I can tell you many teachers regretted beating the child.”
“Currently we have over 150 clear cases of children who are beating to death by adults, have you also wondered that adults don’t behave well, why don’t we also flog them, if adults behave well and act responsible, children will not have a bad example to copy, so what do you want a young child to do when he sees corruption everywhere and what don’t we also flogged them.”
“Yes, it(Corporal punishment) can but brain damage and it is a small part of the narrative. The damage cause not corporal punishments is irreparable so government should sack teachers who administer corporal punishments on students, if the teachers change their behaviours and behave better the children will behave better, no school system in the world will grow better than its quality of its teachers and I think such teachers don’t have business in our education industry,” he added.
