Student
self-respect: How we ruin it
By Sadia Wali
“A child only
pours herself into a little funnel or into a little box when she’s afraid of
the world—when she’s been defeated. But when a child is doing something she’s
passionately interested in, she grows like a tree—in all directions. This is
how children learn, how children grow. They send down a taproot like a tree in
dry soil. The tree may be stunted, but it sends out these roots, and suddenly
one of these little taproots goes down and strikes a source of water. And the
whole tree grows."
John Holt writes in his book, How Children Fail (1967)
Bearing in mind, our belief that the harmonious
development of a child’s personality grows up in an atmosphere of happiness,
love and understanding the question continues to ponder in my mind is that do
we treat our children as individual?
The physical and mental maturity of the child nurtures
in a care-free and non-threatening environment.
A book prepared by Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child
(SPARC) “State of Pakistan’s Children 2014 claims that 35,000 Pakistani
children drop-out of schools every year, and nearly 50 percent of them, run
away from schools due to the prevalence of harsh environment at schools, or
commit suicide due to the fear of punishment or failing in the examination.
A comprehensive study of both government and private
schools in Pakistan showed that the standard of education is falling due to
monotonous and unexciting class room environment. Overcrowded classrooms,
multi-grade teaching, poor quality textbooks, and lack of facilities and
equipment hamper the efficiency of the teachers and compel them to use physical
violence in classrooms. The most common form of physical punishment handed out
to children are: Beating on the palms of the hand with a stick. Slap on the
face. Kicking and punching. Pulling hair. Boxing ears. Forced to stand or bend
down in an uncomfortable position.
The following definition, by the Committee on the Rights
of the Child, is the most widely accepted understanding of what we mean by
corporal punishment:
“Any punishment in which physical force is used and
intended to cause some degree of pain or discomfort, however light. Most
involves hitting (smacking, slapping, spanking) children with the hand or with
an implement—whip, stick, belt, shoe, wooden spoon, etc. But it can also involve,
for example, kicking, shaking or throwing children, scratching, pinching,
burning, and scalding. In addition, there are other non-physical forms of
punishment which are also cruel and degrading and thus incompatible with the
Convention. These include, for example, punishment which humiliates, degrades, threatens,
scares or ridicules the child.”
According to the Annual Report of Global Initiative to
End All Corporal Punishment of Children year 2013- 2014 says that 33 states
have legally banned Corporal Punishments in all settings.
Pakistan is one of the 26 states where the current legislation does not fully
prohibit corporal punishments in all the settings. Over
70 per cent of teachers in Pakistan agree with the statement that corporal
punishment is useful.
While surveying the schools in different localities of
Karachi, I was stunned to see the plight of the children in the classroom
facing brutal and unsympathetic behavior of the teachers. As reported by the
school heads that corporal punishments are banned in their schools, it did not seem
to be true as I saw a teacher brutally shouting and verbally humiliating the
child. Another teacher slapped the child, twisted his ears and threw a book on
his head; a boy’s head was smashed on the table by the teacher to make him sit straight,
a child beaten by a stick thrice which caused severe shoulder injury. A boy was
talking to his fellow when he got a heavy kick on his back which made him
unconscious.
Feeling
irritably cranky and despondent as I observed these atrocious behaviors, I went
to the principal room and asked her why she did not take surprise visit of the
school and see what was going on in the classrooms. Parents do not send their
children to these expensive schools to face humiliation and disgrace, rather
they want their children to be valued and respected. The School is a nursery which
builds up the personality and character of a child and develops humility,
tolerance, respect and civility in children. It is a sacred place where
children learns values, norms and conduct to live a positive life. Teachers are considered to be the good
exemplars with whom the pupils get inspired, acquire good traits and virtuous
characteristics.
Our
children are our future. Raise them well with good values and character. It's a
legacy we've been entrusted with. So don't neglect it.
Mufti
Menk
Can we justify what we are doing with our posterity?
Some case study and responses of children regarding
physical punishments in school really brought tears in my eyes as how
inhumanely and miserably children are treated at schools.
Marium is a
student of grade two in a prestige school of Karachi. The concerned mother
narrated the harsh behavior of the teacher. “That barbarous and cruel teacher
hit my daughter on the face so severely that cheek bones and nose got damaged,
her face and eyes swelled. The daughter came home with bruises on her face. The
punishment was given for not learning the lesson”.
Waqar’s father said that he admitted his son in one of
the best private schools of Karachi which appeared to be different than other
schools. However he soon realized that schools are only meant to destroy the
natural intelligence and creativeness of a young child. His nine years old son,
Waqar studies in grade four, complained that the teachers in his school
mistreat children for even small matters. Students are hit on the legs and
beaten on the palms of the hands if class work and home work is not done or
notebooks are not properly maintained. Waqar is reluctant to go to school and
he tried to come up with different excuses such as ‘feeling sick’, “I
have a headache.” I
hate my teacher!” “School is boring.” and other remarks.
Ayesha and her friends in grade six related the cruel
behavior of social studies teacher. “She always give difficult
assignments. When students ask her to
explain the assignment, she verbally abuses children by saying, “Kia mae aap ki
naukar hoan.” “I am not your servant to explain you every time.” When students ask her to purchase maps or
other required material she stubbornly said “Is it my duty to do your
assignment or ‘purchase the material from the book shop?”
Imran hate his
mathematics teacher. Students of grade eight found this teacher
unbearable. When the teacher explained
some mathematical terms and if weak students do not follow it up, the teacher
impolitely remarks: “Were you sleeping when I was explaining.” In an insulting
manner she says “Tumhary parent’s ki naukar hoan bar bar explains karon, pehlay
kaahan thay.” When I was insulted in front of the other classmates,
I became so upset and felt as if I am not a human being and I have no
feelings”. All the students hate that teacher and are least interested in
attending her class.’
A10-year-old
girl said, “Teachers beat us badly when we are late, my friend has scars where
the teacher hit her so hard.”
A 14- year old girl felt, “It brings harm to children,
weakens their cognitive and emotional development, damage their self- esteem
and confidence and develops insecurity in children.”
The worst situation is observed in schools of under
privilege areas where children continue to study for seven hours, i.e. from
7.30 p.m. to 1.00 p.m. without any lunch break. Sustainable source of clean water
is also not provided and children are exposed to various
atrocious punishments and had to face verbal abuse as well.
As I feel in mostly schools, corporal punishments are
practiced for the sake of keeping the class disciplined.
“I do beat. It is my duty to make sure children behave
well. If I don’t punish they will get out of control. When nothing else works,
I use a stick and twist the ears of the child.” This was the harsh attitude of
a head master who had fifteen years of teaching experience.
Concerned about bullying? A coordinator of the senior
section of the school said, “We have to adopt strict and harsh behavior with
some rowdy children who being too violent harm other children and also disrupt
the class environment. We either suspend the child for the misbehavior. Report
it to the parents or expel the student to show that bullying is prohibited in
school.”
The principal
of O level section said. “Being the head of the school, I and the benefactor of
the school have to wisely deal with the teachers,
not to threaten or warn a teacher who
needs to correct his or her behavior
towards manipulating a child. In some cases we accommodate the teacher as we
find her command on teaching the subject well although she lacks class control.
There we find the classroom environment a bit disorganized and undisciplined. But
we do help and support the teachers to improve their teaching skills.”
A senior teacher said,
“Corporal punishment in school would not promote
well-disciplined students, but only promote a culture where violence is
accepted and encouraged. The actual consequences is that corporal punishment
only increase violence and students lose their self- confidence and self-
esteem.”
World-renowned therapist Alice Miller has devoted a
lifetime to studying the cruelties inflicted on children. Alice Miller in her book,
‘Child Mistreatment, Child Abuse’ writes,
“Almost all
small children are smacked during the first three years of life when they begin
to walk and to touch objects which may not be touched. This happens at exactly
the time when the human brain builds up its structure and should thus learn
kindness, truthfulness, and love but never, never cruelty and lies. Teachers
and guardians who abuse their children, both physically and mentally, leave
them embarrassed and hurt.
Alice Miller opened our eyes to the devastating
effects of of spanking and other disciplinary traumas. In her book,’ For
Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-rearing and the Roots of Violence’ she
wrote, “Our
bodies retain memories of humiliation, causing panoply of physical ills and
dangerous levels of denial. This denial, necessary for the child's survival,
leads to emotional blindness and finally to mental barriers that cut off
awareness and inability to absorb new ways of learning. Cruelty
to a "bad child" will make that child into a bad adult and later
create a bad world, unless an enlightened witness comes to the rescue. A child
respected and taken seriously will create a different world.”
Should we expect our schools to be changed?
The idea of peaceful classroom begins with getting rid
of violence in schools. (Source: Kaufman, M. (2000) Conflict resolution-
finding better ways to help boys and girls solve problems, UNICEF)
Prohibition of the Corporal Punishment Bill 2013 was
approved by the National Assembly (NA) is a positive step towards abolishing
extreme form of violence from schools. The bill has declared any form of
corporal punishment of children in academic institutions illegal. Individuals
found to be involved in the acts would be sentenced to one year in prison, Rs
50,000 fine or both.
Section 89 of the PPC (Pakistan Penal Code 1860) (No
XLV) empowers parents, teachers and other guardians to use corporal punishment
as a means to discipline and correct the behavior of under-12 children.
However, such punishment is required to be moderate and reasonable.In case the
punishment inflicts serious injuries as defined in PPC, then the adult can be
booked under sections 334 and 336 of the PPC respectively and can be penalized
and imprisoned for it.
UN Committee on the Rights of Children also
recommended Government of Pakistan in concluding observation and
recommendations in 2009 to prohibit all forms of corporal punishment in all
settings.
NGO sector, the media and other relevant professionals
such as educationists, writers, scholars and human rights activists have
strongly condemned the corporal punishment in schools, declaring it a
"cruel, dehumanizing, and degrading" practice. They have called for
strict implementations of the laws in educational institutions to abolish harsh
punishments. They also urged that respective provincial governments should take
serious notice of these unlawful punishments and that the person involved should
be fined and imprisoned.
An educationalist, M.Khalid Rehman said,
“We as teachers must have sufficient understanding of
child psychology so as to avoid even any corporal or mental punishment in order
to let the child grow in a peaceful environment. If we feel that we could use
punishment as an academic too, then we can rest assured that we are not fit to
be a teacher at all, and we must find some other job. I understand that a child
who is exposed to an aggressive environment is more likely to be an aggressive
individual in every phase of life. A child who is lucky enough to receive
empathy and kindness from the parents and teachers, tends to develop as a kind
human being having an empathetic attitude. Penalizing a child is certainly a drastic
measure that should be avoided at all costs”
Educationalists and child right workers said that Teachers
need to be educated on how beating and abusing students has a negative impact
on young innocent children. They emphasized that teacher
training institutes should create awareness in teachers to
cultivate a friendly and nurturing environment in the classroom, and teach
students with love and affection."
Regarding these
initiatives, Teachers Development Centre has organized workshops for teachers
which aim at discouraging the trend of corporal punishment in schools; while
encouraging teachers to adopt invitational education which focused on
collaborative learning and cooperation.
‘The Charter of Children Recognition’ proposed by Educationalist,
Salman Asif Siddiqui drew attention towards all the threatening factors,
physical and emotional violence at school and at home. The aim of the charter
is to create awareness in parents and teachers regarding the hazards the
children are facing in an unsafe and unprotected school environment thus
emphasized over the need to set up child-friendly schools.
More mutual consensus from schools, teachers and
parents is needed to implement corporal punishment laws in schools. If these
laws are sincerely implemented, it will help to adopt more positive ways of
disciplining children without undermining their confidence and self-esteem and
bring revolutionary changes in our educational institutions. In an optimally
inviting classroom environment, children get respect, they behaver better and
learn more from the feelings of accomplishments than feelings of failure,
rejection and humiliation.
Ralph Waldo
Emerson said, “The secret of education lies in respecting the pupil.”
