Spare the rod, spare the child

Since childhood, I've always been compared to my cousin who used to score above 90% in exams. Every time results were declared, it would be the most embarrassing day for me as I would score only 60%. It would inevitably lead to comparisons by mom and she would start supervising my study hours.

Otherwise, I would receive a big blow with a scale or be embarrassed with her prickly words. I am a successful individual today, not because of all the scolding I received from my parents. In fact I would say that it was something bad that happened with me and it actually discouraged me and made me feel like I am doing a sin surviving on this earth,” says Soumya (name changed) from Reddy College, Narayanguda, Hyderabad.

Corporal punishment is an age-old technique used by parents to discipline children, especially in academics. It becomes a big issue when children scores less marks in exams and do not spend enough time with their books and they are literally made to feel as if they are good for nothing. ‘Eshaan Awasthi’, the lead character in the movie ‘Taare Zameen Par’, is sent to hostel when his parents realise that he is not doing well in his studies. His parents think it is the best thing for him, but for the child it was a curse.

In a similar incident, in real life, eight-year-old Siddhu who hails from rural Kakinada was mercilessly
burnt on the back by his father only because he was playing with his sister, and not studying. His sister Lavanya was also spotted with minor injuries. Corporal punishment is quite prevalent in schools and at home.
Apart from the lesser reported incidents, there is a high number of  incidents about a variety of  physical
abuses that include caning, slapping, making the student stand in the sun that go unreported. Most children fear and do not tell parents about how they were punished as it means being branded as undisciplined. Parents presume that the child, perhaps, deserves a punishment for not doing well in studies.

P Jyothi Raja, a child psychologist who runs Hyderabad Center for Learning Disabilities says, “Teachers
who punish students don’t realise the seriousness of the issue.  They think punishing them improves behaviour of the child. But for the child, it becomes an ego issue as the people around will start talking about it. If it repeats, they become anti-social elements and start harming people. Childhood is a very tender age so it has greater effect.”

“One day my child came back from school with a sullen expression. She did not talk to me for some time. When I enquired, she told me that her teacher slapped her. She refused to go to school from the next day. Then I promised her that I will speak to the teacher. I went to her school next day and spoke to her teacher and principal. Since then such incidents have not been repeated,” says P Sunita, a parent.

Rafia Nausheen from Mahita, an NGO that works with adolescent girls in the Old City, Hyderabad, in the field of  education, says, “Most of  the teachers are unaware of  rules and their implementation. Many teachers are just graduates and do not even hold a BEd degree. They are not fully trained to handle children. Pressure from management and home etc makes them emotionally frustrated and they resort to these steps.
They fail to bring positive discipline without using the cane. When we go to visit schools, we see most of the teachers have a cane. When we ask why they use it, they asked us how else they can control children without cane. Many students drop out of the school because of corporal punishment. Many feel that they are not properly treated by the teachers. The teachers use abusive or humiliating language with the kids and children think going to school would mean losing their self esteem. This creates a revengeful feeling in children. It affects children psychologically in a big way.”Counselling students and empathising with them works best to discipline,” say experts.

-Pratima Shantaveeresh