“Existing provisions covering different types of violence against children are rarely used to prosecute acts of corporal punishment. Also, corporal punishment is not specifically defined and/or criminalised under the Indian Penal Code (IPC),” says Deepa Dixit, member of the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights, explaining why teachers are rarely punished for causing serious injury to their students.
Global Prohibition Corporal Punishment in schools is prohibited in nearly half of the world’s countries. In the past 20 years, eighteen countries have enacted laws prohibiting corporal punishment in all settings, namely in the home, in schools, alternative care and in the judicial system. It is of interest to note that since the turn of the century, ten countries have officially prohibited all forms of corporal punishment. The pace of reform is gathering momentum in light of the UN Study on Violence against children which recommended in its final report prohibition in law of all corporal punishment of children by 2009.
Indian Attitudes Legal protection against corporal punishment is important to safeguard the rights of a child. However, in practice, legal options are usually resorted to only in case of extreme corporal punishment. They are nevertheless important measures of deterrence. It is very important that teachers should know that by assaulting children they risk not only dismissal but also prosecution by criminal law, which doesn’t exist in India at present. Simultaneously, public education is crucial to accompany law reform. The process of law reform and enactment of the Right to Education Bill with provisions on corporal punishment itself has the potential to be educational if properly disseminated. Teacher training and sensitisation, public interest programmes, community mobilisation, educating children on their rights etc can additionally play an important role to
Physical and Psychological Scars Children due to fear are often silent and submit to violence without questioning. They sometimes show signs of deep hurt in their behaviour but this often goes unnoticed, perpetuating further violence on them. More often than not, when a teacher uses violence on children it is an outburst of their own personal frustration. Mental health experts are of the opinion that corporal punishment not only affects the emotional behaviour and academic performance of a child, but also leads to reduction in self esteem and dignity of child. There is a large body of international research detailing the negative outcomes of corporal punishment. Some of the conclusions are presented below: Escalation - Mild punishments in infancy are so ineffective that they tend to escalate as the child grows older. The little smack thus becomes a spanking and then a beating. Encouraging violence - Even a little slap carries the message that violence is the appropriate response to conflict or unwanted behaviour. Aggression breeds aggression. Children subjected to physical punishment have been shown to be more likely than others to be aggressive to siblings; to bully other children at school; to take part in aggressively antisocial behaviour in adolescence; to be violent to their spouses and their own children and to commit violent crimes. Physical punishment teaches children that we communicate important things through hitting; the parents who they depend on to protect them, will hurt them and so they should fear their parents, rather than trusting them; their home is an unsafe place for learning and exploration. If we want to teach children to be non-violent, we must show them how to be non-violent. If we want to teach them how to stay safe, we need to explain to them and show them how to do this. Hitting children harms our relationships with them. It doesn’t give them the information they need to make decisions, and it doesn’t increase their respect for us.
change attitudes. 84
December-2009