Teachers should be character moulders, not killers

While struggling to recover from a recent ruthless attack unleashed by suspected bandits on Birane village in Zurmi local government area of Zamfara state where 41 people were killed, Zamfara state was again launched back into news headlines when a teacher in Government Day Secondary School, Sankalawa, in Bungudu local government area of the state […]

While struggling to recover from a recent ruthless attack unleashed by suspected bandits on Birane village in Zurmi local government area of Zamfara state where 41 people were killed, Zamfara state was again launched back into news headlines when a teacher in Government Day Secondary School, Sankalawa, in Bungudu local government area of the state allegedly flogged a student to death. The deceased’s parents have however dismissed any link between their son’s death and the flogging by his teacher. They reportedly claim that their son, Rayyan Ahmad, an SS2 student, had been ill before he was flogged by the teacher. Rayyan’s classmate, Sulaman Dahiru, with whom the deceased was flogged, said they each received two stokes of cane only for missing school for a day. In any case, flogging of students as a disciplinary measure in schools is a matter that yet deserves comments on this page.

Flogging with the use of cane is one of the disciplinary measures categorized as corporal punishment in the management of deviant behaviours among young school boys and girls. Corporal punishment in schools refers to causing deliberate pain or discomfort in response to undesired behavior or speech from students. It often involves striking the student with a cane, wooden paddle or whip.

Proponents of corporal punishment derive their justification from three broad rationales. These are: the traditional belief that adults have a right to physically punish misbehaving children or learners; a disciplinary philosophy that corporal punishment builds character; and the belief by teachers that corporal punishment is essential for maintaining order in the school.

There are reasons, too, why corporal punishment is highly discouraged by those who speak against it. Corporal punishment could cause injuries to the body of the student; sometimes leading to permanent disabilities. Blindness, for example, could occur when the cane mistakenly enters into the student’s eyes. The Zamfara case related above is enough evidence that corporal punishment, if not carefully administered, could be fatal; the worst of the consequences that may be suffered by a student from violent application of corporal punishment by school authorities. Besides, some educational psychologists argue that corporal punishment is, in the long run, ineffective because of its likelihood to become a source of anti-social behaviours and poor academic achievements. It could also lead a student into truancy, aggression, depression, low self-esteem, anxiety and depression. Too frequent use of corporal punishment could make a recalcitrant student become hardened.

A number of international human rights organizations including the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child argue that physical punishment of any kind is a violation of children’s human rights. Owing largely to their concern of for the rights of the child, corporal punishment is prohibited in all European countries. Poland was the first nation to outlaw corporal punishment in schools in 1783. While Britain outlawed it in 1987 for state schools and more recently for all schools, corporal punishment was banned in Austria in 1974. 

Other countries that banned corporal punishment include Finland in 1914, Russia in 1917, Netherland in 1920, Italy in 1928, Norway in 1936, China in 1949, Denmark in 1967, New Zealand in 1990, Germany in 1993, South Africa in 1996, Canada in 2004, and Brazil in 2014. Although a Delhi High Court banned corporal punishment in 2000, it is still being used in most of India. Canning is a common form of disciplinary measure in many Malaysian schools. In Nigeria where corporal punishment in schools has not been outlawed, its use is exceedingly discouraged. Educationists in the country see it as a form of physical punishment that should be applied with caution and with an express authorization from school principal. 

Regrettably though, the indiscriminate misuse of corporal punishment which was designed to be deployed in extreme cases of misconduct from students is prompting many people including this writer to call for the regulation of its use by schools. Indeed, every trained and qualified teacher is required to know the functions and implications of reward and punishment in the control and management of students in schools. The Zamfara killer-teacher was, perhaps, ill-informed of approaches to discipline in schools. This, by extension, is not only a reflection of the poor professional capacity of present-day teachers in Nigeria but also an illustration of the pitiable state of Teacher Education in the country.

The knowledge and wise use of reward and punishment in schools is one of the essential qualities expected of a trained and qualified teacher. While rewards should be used to acknowledge good behaviours, punishments are designed to stop and correct misbehaviours in students. Punishments are to be applied in ways that do not make them appear as a form of revenge. Punishments are required to be proportionate to the offence and also appropriate to the offender. The object of punishment is to correct and reform; not to reinforce misconduct or destroy a student’s personality which the teacher is paid to refine into the best of characters. Teachers must be seen in their use of punishment (corporal or otherwise) to be character molders; not students’ killers. 

In order to reserve corporal punishment for exceptional cases of indiscipline and thus preserve its awe-inspiring nature, several forms of punishment exist for teachers to use in checking waywardness among students. They include verbal rebuke; announcing a student’s misbehaviour during morning assemblies as a way of shaming him; keeping an erring student standing while others are seated during lessons; asking a disobedient student to write out several lines of a sentence or passage; and giving a defiant student an unpleasant job to do such as washing cooking pots (in a boarding school). An offending student could be detained in the classroom while others are playing games on the field. Educational psychologists refer to this as “negative reinforcement”. Suspension from school could be a more effective form of reprimand than corporal punishment.

Although I regard myself as an advocate and admirer of discipline in schools, I take exception to the indiscriminate use of corporal punishment by teachers in recent times. Now that corporal punishment is assuming dangerous dimensions in schools, it would be apt to suggest its regulation by relevant bodies including the National Council on Education. It would also be germane for lawmakers in the national assembly to hold public hearing on this matter with a view to regulating corporal punishment in schools. May Allah (SWT) guide policy makers in the education industry to appropriately re-position Teacher Education in the long-awaited state of emergency being proposed for declaration by the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, amin.