The high-school experience is always different for people. Some describe it as the best moments of their lives where they met the friends they still hold dear to date. On the other hand, some people describe high-school as a time they would never even dream of reliving. In Kenya for example, one of the reasons students dreaded high-school is because of the strict and harsh punishment referred to as corporal punishment.
Corporal punishment to put it plainly is the use of physical force to inflict pain on a person. In Kenya, corporal punishment is associated with poor academic performance, noise-making and generally indiscipline. It involves caning children with bamboo sticks and tree branches, twisting their ears, slapping and hitting their hands with a blackboard duster or the narrow side of a ruler.
According to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, there is an obligation to prohibit all forms of corporal punishment regardless of how ‘light’ it may be. General comment No.8 of 2006 by the committee on the right of the child states that “It is the right of the child to protection from corporal punishment and other cruel or degrading forms of punishments’’. It is considered against human rights to punish a child in such a violent manner. Corporal punishment is said to hinder a child’s right to receive proper education.
In 2001, the Kenyan government banned the use of corporal punishment. To further cement this, they enacted the Children’s Act 2001 aimed at enforcing and upholding the rights of children. Like any other subject, there are always those who support a course of action and those who condemn it.
One can argue that corporal punishment is inhumane and harmful to the child. Many Kenyan parents oppose it as they feel their children are mistreated in places where teachers are entrusted to nurture and educate. Some students dread school because they fear what awaits them in the event they fail their examinations or step out of line. School becomes a place associated with negative emotions and experiences that carry on throughout an individual’s life.
However, some like the Cabinet Secretary for education in Kenya, George Magoha who advocate for corporal punishment. Mr. Magoha explains that the recent unrest in schools such as the burning of dormitories and abuse of drugs is because corporal punishment has been ruled out. According to him, caning is the best way to discipline children.. He is famous for advising parents to stop ‘coddling’ children as this triggers bad behavior in schools as well as at home.
While the fact that children do need to be disciplined is true, physical punishment is not the only way to do so. Some children in fact do not respond to corporal punishment. It may drive them to rebellion or harbor resentment and anger. UNICEF advocates for positive discipline. It is based on fostering healthy relationships between children and authority figures. Children are to be disciplined but this discipline should not be at great cost to a child’s well being.
About The Contributor
