School violence
2.1. Introduction. What is school violence?
2.1.7. Corporal Punishment
Corporal punishment has been debated all over the world as one of the major issues that challenge educators in schools. In the last decade, corporal punishment in South African schools was banned. This is in keeping with international trends of recognizing the rights of the child and the South African
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Constitution (RSA, 1996). The Bill of Rights entrenches the rights of all persons to be protected against any form of abuse.
According to Harber (2004) corporal punishment at schools is a degrading and humiliating act of violence and is a denial of the fundamental rights of the child. Nevertheless, the physical punishment of children is still commonplace, widely supported and justified as being ‘for your own good’. Newell (1972), Strauss (1994) and Simiyu (2003) provide several definitions of “corporal punishment”. In general, these definitions seek to point out that corporal punishment is the use of physical force against an individual.
According to Newell (1972), corporal punishment is the act of causing physical pain to the learner by an educator or a child by a parent (p.3). This corresponds with Simiyu (2003, p.6-7) who states that corporal punishment against a child “is the use of physical force with the intention of causing a child to experience pain but no injury on an individual’s body whereas Strauss (1994, p.4) states that corporal punishment is a deliberate infliction of pain for the purposes of correction or control of the child’s behavior. Strauss (1994, p.7) further states that “the most frequent forms of corporal punishment are spanking, slapping, grabbing or shoving a child roughly (with more force than is needed to move the child), and hitting with certain objects such as a hair brush or belt. However, according to the Constitution of South Africa (RSA, 1996), the Bill of Rights has a wider definition of abuse. Corporal punishment includes physical pain, emotional pain and psychological pain. Examples of these are name-calling of children like “stupid”, isolating a child in class, depriving a child from privileges because it is humiliating and discriminatory. It is important to note that corporal punishment was seen as the means of ensuring the control of children and this was a mirror of how government was able to control social, economic and political conditions through acts of violence (Vally, 1998).
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The World Health Organization as cited by Harber (2004), reviewed research revealing that parents themselves were beaten at school. An institution that sanctions violence towards children in the home is connected with violence in the school. It further adds that if it is legitimated by the state and their own parents who sent them there, then this must have provided an influential behavioral role model. Physical punishment at school must contribute to the idea that this is normal and acceptable form of punishment in a society and that it can be used against children both in the home and at school. In this way physical punishment at school not only affects children at school but in the home too as it does nothing to break the cycle of violence (WHO, 2002).
The South African society has undergone major social, economic and political changes over the past few years with the intention of establishing a democratic and humane nation. Among the changes in the education sector has been the banning of corporal punishment in all schools under the South African Schools Act (DoE, 1996a). Like most other democracies, South Africa has passed several laws that make corporal punishment illegal. For example, The Department of Education has further entrenched section 12 (e) of Chapter Two on the Bill of Rights in the Constitution in its National Education Policy Act (DoE, 1996b). Section 3 of this act states: "No person shall administer corporal punishment, or subject a student to psychological or physical abuse at any educational institution." According to Section 10 (1) and 10 (2) of the South African Schools Act, No. 84 of 1996 (DoE, 1996a):
No person shall administer corporal punishment at a school to a learner.
Any person who contravenes subsection (1) is guilty of an offence, and liable on conviction to a sentence which could be imposed for assault.
These prohibitions work in line with The Constitution of South Africa (RSA, 1996)which guarantees and supports the right to human dignity, equality, freedom and security. If educators including parents employ physical or
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psychological means to “discipline” or “punish” children, they are taking these rights away from them. Since the banning of corporal punishment, it is evident that there were mixed responses from both parents and educators as the policy change was difficult to comply with and accept. At present, there are still reported cases of corporal punishment being used in classrooms often resulting in serious injury. The use of corporal punishment is seen as an act of violence which seems to be discouraged in schools but many scholars feel it is the only form of disciplinary measure that is effective.
Different views have been put forward in modern times to persuade us that corporal punishment is bad and inadmissible. It is important to note that the community views corporal punishment from different perspectives: there are those who favor the use of corporal punishment as it is seen as a means of molding learners, and there are those that are against it as they believe it is inhumane to inflict pain on another.
Critical friends argue that their cultural and/or religious freedom is being curbed as educators are no longer allowed to discipline children using physical force.
Their traditions and religious beliefs claim that corporal punishment should be used by educators in order to change learners’ bad behaviors. This is in line with Parker-Jenkins (1999) who also believed that children who are badly behaved deserve severe punishment when necessary, (p.2). This belief also concurs with Hyman (1990) and Simiyu (2003, p.11), who add that corporal punishment should be used as long as the child’s family and the child's own perception of justice accepts it, for example, in most African cultures, beating is permitted in order to discipline the child.
According to Simiyu (2003) corporal punishment should be used as the last resort only when it is absolutely necessary to maintain order and discipline. In schools educators are concerned about violence both in and out of the classroom and feel that corporal punishment is able to address this issue (Morrel, 2001).
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This concurs with Roos (2003) who claims that the use of corporal punishment should be used on offenders such as bullies as they deserve severe punishment.
He supports his claim by stating that with non-violent approaches to discipline such behavior will not have any effect on hooligan learners, particularly when there are gangs and violence in a school.
Most educators view corporal punishment as a “deterrent and reformative”
measure for learners. They believe that this external constraint maintains order by correcting misbehavior within a short time. Other methods require time, patience and skill and most educators often lack such skills (Docking, 1980).
According to research conducted by Simiyu (2003, p.31), the educators expressed that the only way to deal with difficult and disruptive learners that don’t respond to other disciplinary measures is to beat them. These educators add that with the use of corporal punishment being administered it prepared learners minds in readiness for the learning process. These indirectly improved academic performances as it created a sound learning atmosphere in the classroom.
According to Simiyu (2003) most teachers that use corporal punishment have actually stopped understanding child psychology. She argues that the uses of corporal punishment in schools have both psychological and educational consequences that impair a child’s learning experience in school. Simiyu (2003, p.25) asserts that corporal punishment decreases a learner's motivation which results to low academic levels. She further adds that caning causes aggression, fear and anxiety which hinder the learning process rather than improving their academic performances. This concurs with Bandura’s study (1973) which indicated that corporal punishment in schools caused psychological deficits which affects the child's cognitive abilities to learn.
Physical punishment (strapping, ear pulling, cheek pinching, bottom slapping) are common practices in schools. Conversations with critical friends say that learners reported a feeling of fear, humiliation, embarrassment and intimidation
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as a result of the punishments. Spanking, in case of any misbehavior, may be an easy way out for the educators to reign in the moment but its larger implications on the psyche of a child can be devastating. Morrell (2001) argues that every action of children in their formative years is not a result of their own liberalized thinking. Educators and even parents must understand that any child’s behavior problem stems from an indirect influence and reflection of the social circumstances which are imposed on him. This society is the very community in which the educator is very much a part. According to Strauss (1994), educators who use corporal punishment are total failures in classrooms. Both Jennings (1979) and Simiyu (2003) further emphasize that inexperienced educators only resort to corporal punishment due to their inability to address discipline in the classrooms. The social consequences of corporal punishment imply that it is direct violence against learners. It creates aggressive behavior which leads to a cyclic reproduction of violence. Therefore, no matter how time consuming or brain storming it can be, it is important to have a reasoned approach for dealing with learner issues that must be done in a manner which is non-violent.