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प्रश्न
‘Spare the rod and spoil the child’.
उत्तर
Spare the rod and spoil the child
The purpose of this arguement is to determine whether corporal punishment is beneficial to children and their development. We have all experienced some form of corporal punishment whether from our parents or from our teachers in school. To majority of societies around the world, corporal punishment is the norm rather than the exception. Many scholars and academics have viewed corporal punishment to be a negative form of discipline as it affects the child’s or student’s behavior. According to Save the Children’s awareness campaign on corporal punishment, children who have been subjected to corporal punishment experience a low self esteem, feelings of sadness and anger as well as feelings of loneliness and abandonment. Many scholars and academics have viewed corporal punishment to be a negative form of discipline as it affects the child’s or student’s behavior. According to Save the Children’s awareness campaign on corporal punishment, children who have been subjected to corporal punishment experience a low self esteem, feelings of sadness and anger as well as feelings of loneliness and abandonment.Their social skills within and outside the school are also affected as they are afraid to communicate what they want. Corporal punishment has also been viewed to increase fear of reprisals creating educational barriers that lead to poor performance in school. Children who have undergone punishment also have a negative view of their school and also the society making it difficult for them to integrate into their community. Physical punishment also discourages reasoning by affecting the child’s reasoning capabilities. Corporal punishment has noted that this form of punishment has played an integral role in how parents discipline their children. This form of punishment has been the main focus of psychological research in the United States with various researchers and academics providing contributions on whether corporal punishment is beneficial or detrimental to the child’s development. Despite various countries adopting measures to prohibit the use of corporal punishment as a form of discipline, support for using corporal punishment in the U.S. has remained strong with 94 percent of parents and school teachers supporting the use of physical violence to discipline errant children. While there have been many negative effects of corporal punishment, there are scholars who have advocated for the use of corporal punishment in dealing with discipline cases. Child psychologists who advocate for the use of corporal punishment have noted that it is advantageous in that it is the only form of language that children will understand and react to. This is especially so with children who have been identified to be problematic and reckless. Rather than pamper and spoil these types of children, psychologists have seen corporal discipline as a means of preventing children with poor conduct or behavior from degenerating even further to reckless behavior. To further explain the term “spare the rod or spoil the child” various advantages of using corporal punishment have been advocated for when compared to using non physical forms of punishment . Children who are physically punished for doing something wrong are most likely to not repeat the offence in future. This can also be attributed to the instantaneous effect physical punishment has on children caught in reckless behavior. The use of corporal punishment has also been seen to restrain children from engaging in reckless behavior with respect to historical statistics which have shown that children behave well after they have been subjected to corporal disciplinary action. Corporal punishment filled the gap that was created when other forms of punishment were used such as detention, suspension or expulsion. Another benefit of corporal punishment is that when used in the proper context, it initiates a change in behavior as the recipient will be deterred from misbehaving in future. Use of corporal punishment is particularly beneficial for children who are irrational, impulsive and need some firmness. He noted that children’s impulsive nature needed to be controlled through tougher methods of punishment such as corporal discipline. He advocates for the sustained use of physical force on children with regards to the level of misconduct they have engaged in. Corporal punishment should also observe due process and timing so that it can be justified. Due process will entail punishing the guilty parties while timing refers to whether the punishment will take place before or after the wrongdoing. Corporal punishment does not necessarily have to be viewed as a negative form of punishment. Through the use of appropriate restrictions, it can be used to discipline children who have been found to misbehave or have engaged in misconduct. Despite the many protagonists who have argued about the disadvantages of corporal punishment, this form of discipline can prove to be beneficial when dealing with cases of misbehavior, truancy or misconduct amongst school going children. Corporal punishment is an effective method of deterring detrimental behaviors in children who are still developing. It eliminates cases of repeat misconduct or misbehavior in children who have not responded to the other forms of punishment such as detention, suspension, reprimanding or expulsion.
