Time to cut the cane

BY MARK POTTERTON

Stories of ruler-wielding teachers and other agents of corporal punishment in South African schools are well-known. In some schools, the rod still holds sway even today. MARK POTTERTON explains why this is an entirely bad thing.

It is unfortunate that corporal punishment is still such a common experience in the lives of many children and young people in many countries.

If you did a simple national poll among the over-40 generation of today, my prediction is that more than 60% of the sample would recount incidents of being on the receiving end of corporal punishment at one point or another in their childhood, either at home or at school.

You often hear stories about how today’s generation is too spoilt and lacks a sense of responsibility and direction because parents or teachers no longer employ that essential pillar of parenting: the stick.

Even though corporal punishment still happens so frequently, few people bother to question its validity or effectiveness.

It is unfortunate that corporal punishment is still such a common experience in the lives of many children and young people in many countries. The situation persists despite the overwhelming evidence that documents its contribution to a range of negative developmental outcomes.

There is no scientific evidence that exists to justify its use as an educational or disciplinary tool.

The Catholic Institution of Education (CIE) is concerned that corporal punishment continues to be extensively used in South African schools. A recent study showed that 70% of primary school children are beaten by teachers.

The CIE believes there is no room for the stick—short or long, natural or synthetic—in the classroom. We believe that using the stick tends to promote an atmosphere of fear rather than building a relationship of respect between teacher and learner; or even between parent and child, for that matter.

JE Durrant, author of Corporal Punishment: Prevalence, Predictors and Implications for Child Behaviour and development, says that there is a strong correlation between corporal punishment and levels of student violence. The CIE has extensive evidence that corporal punishment is still widely used in South African schools.

Researchers argue that tradition and cultural beliefs are likely to be the primary contributing factors to the high prevalence of this practice.

There are unfortunate misconceptions that continue to perpetuate the use of corporal punishment in many societies, including the belief that corporal punishment is effective, prevents children from getting into trouble, teaches right from wrong, instils respect, and is conceptually and dynamically different from physical abuse.

However, none of these misconceptions is supported by the research literature. Durrant argues that even in controlled laboratory studies, in which parents were systematically trained and carefully monitored, corporal punishment was shown to be unreliable in inducing immediate compliance. In naturalistic, longitudinal and observational studies, corporal punishment has consistently been found to predict negative outcomes.

Corporal punishment is therefore not effective but rather potentially harmful and can instil aggression and antisocial behaviour. Rather than teaching right from wrong, it appears to interfere with moral development, and in terms of instilling respect, it tends to erode parent-child relationships.

More importantly, it is a common precipitant of severe violence.

The good news is that there is evidence that individual and cultural belief systems that perpetuate the use of corporal punishment can be changed in a relatively short period of time. The experience of Sweden demonstrates that a combination of legislative reform and public education can have a powerful impact on cultural attitudes, as well as individual behaviour.

UNESCO further argues that in order to reduce the prevalence of corporal punishment of children and youth worldwide, a three-pronged initiative will be necessary:

It is through education and clear standards that the practice of corporal punishment can be eliminated from the lives of South African children.

In terms of broader human rights legislation, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the CIE does not condone corporal punishment in schools.

In 1989, world leaders decided that children needed a convention specifically for them as people under 18 years old often need special care and protection that adults do not. These leaders also wanted to make sure that the world recognises that children have human rights too.

Both South Africa and the Vatican are signatories to the Convention. The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the first legally binding international instrument to incorporate the full range of human rights: civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights.

By agreeing to undertake the obligations of the Convention (by ratifying or acceding to it), national governments have committed themselves to protecting and ensuring children’s rights and they have agreed to hold themselves accountable for this commitment before the international community.

State parties to the Convention are obliged to develop and undertake all actions and policies in the light of the best interests of the child.

Fortunately, South Africa has acted on the Convention and South African legislation makes corporal punishment illegal.

The CIE has over the years implemented several measures to ensure that corporal punishment exists only in our history books. We continue to lobby schools, society, state institutions and relevant NGOs to rid the country of corporal punishment in its entirety.

 Mark Potterton is the director of the Catholic Institute for Education in Johannesburg.