Dear Editor,
Corporal punishment violates human rights, physical integrity and human dignity; it leaves lasting scars on children and must be thrown out of our schools. It is uncivilized and has never been proven to correct behaviour. Corporal punishment inflicts pain, stress and anxiety on children and the emotional and psychological effects can last a lifetime.
Corporal punishment teaches children that it is right for powerful persons to be violent towards the weak and to resolve conflicts through violence; we see this behaviour constantly in our schools among students. Guyana has to overcome a history of institutional violence being used during slavery, indentureship and colonialism to force submission and to entrench relations of superiority and inferiority.
The vast majority of parents do not hit nor abuse their kids at home but send them to schools where their teachers do just that. That is total nonsense and should not be tolerated by parents. Our children are our greatest assets therefore we should invest the time necessary to achieve discipline through other healthy methods and not use the easiest and cheapest method, which is corporal punishment. Corporal punishment is ineffective and has never produced positive results; it’s like sweeping dirt under the rug, the problem is only covered up, not fixed. We need to fix the problem from the root, educate our teachers more on how to use substitute methods instead of torturing our children.
Come on parents! Corporal punishment is a method that was thrown out by civilized societies decades ago and a Guyanese parent should not tolerate it in this era of science and technology. Our fore parents fought to remove the whip from the fields; we need to fight to remove the whip from the schools.
There is a particular school in Berbice which must be addressed by the Ministry of Education with regard to corporal punishment. There are constant complaints from students that teachers there lock them out of school in the sun; use abusive language on them; hit and ridicule them in front of other students; give them unhealthy chores to do – and the list goes on.
As a parent, I am calling on other parents to take their stand against corporal punishment in schools. Let the authorities take steps to protect our children so they won’t be victims of corporal punishment and can make outstanding contributions to society.
Yours faithfully,
Neri Alli
