Dear Editor,
It was reported in the Jamaica Observer of 6 March, 2008 that Jamaican Minister of Education Andrew Holness announced to a gathering of young people that Jamaica must create a new culture with respect to disciplining children and that it cannot be one that includes the resort to violence:
“We have done that for many years, and do you know what that passes to the students? That the only way to resolve a conflict is through violence, and what is being played out in the society is reinforced everyday by how we as a society impart disciplinary instruction to our young people.”
Finally, a minister of education in the Caribbean region has had the courage to clearly and publicly state that corporal punishment administered to children by teachers and parents under the guise of discipline is to be blamed at least in part for widespread societal violence!
Civil society organizations and individuals from all sectors of Guyanese society have for years been calling on the government of Guyana to abolish corporal punishment (see http://www.sdnp.org.gy/ hands/?q=node/33).
In 2005 the UNICEF/ Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security/ Red Thread Report “Voices of Children: Experiences with Violence” states in section 3.2.2.1. Corporal Punishment in Schools that:
“Included in the list of the six most common reasons for the administering of corporal punishment in schools identified in the report is not doing school work well. 20% of children interviewed said that they would receive corporal punishment for such things as not finishing work, not writing fast enough, spelling words incorrectly etc. This indicates that corporal punishment is not only being used as a means of imposing discipline but to penalise children whose only ‘crimes’ are being slow learners or underperforming in academic subjects. In this group will be children who may be dyslexic, have mild physical disabilities or be abused. The use of corporal punishment in this way is all the more intolerable as by creating a psychological association between physical punishment and school work, it encourages children who are unable to satisfy their teachers to believe themselves failures and no doubt consequently contributes significantly to the drop out rate.”
The same report also states that:
“Children often mentioned being physically and emotionally hurt by the use of corporal punishment and even described being ‘beaten bad’ by their teachers [resulting in] swelling of hands so that it was difficult to write, leaving permanent marks on their skin, leaving them so humiliated that they could not concentrate on their work, or leaving them too afraid to ask for help.”
In Guyana, research at our institution for juvenile offenders, the New Opportunity Corps (NOC), shows that the majority of inmates are victims or survivors of serious and frequent physical and emotional abuse at home and it was this abuse in many cases which led or contributed to them being institutionalized. Reports and research indicate that a link exists between neglect and abuse of children and sexual exploitation. Reports also indicated that children at NOC who had been committed for petty crimes such as common larceny and in some cases much more serious crime had turned to crime as an escape from an abusive home environment.
Corporal punishment as a form of discipline attacks the child’s body and not the problem itself. It is useless if the goal is to correct a particular behaviour.
Research also indicates that the person administering the punishment obtains satisfaction from doing so while at the same time communicating fear, hatred and disrespect.
We have only to look at the rising levels of violence in our society to understand that we are failing to resolve conflicts and anti-social behaviour at every level. We do not suggest that the physical abuse of children that masquerades as corporal punishment in our schools, homes and institutions is solely responsible for this rise in violence. It is however an important contributing factor as it teaches from a very young age that violence is an acceptable way to solve or correct problems and that people in authority have the right to impose their will or rules on those in their care through the use of violence.
According to the WHO (2002) World report on violence and health -” child abuse and neglect increase the likelihood of delinquency, adult criminality and violent criminal behaviour.
Experiencing and witnessing violence at home and in the community can lead to emotional disturbance which results in children exhibiting aggressive behaviour.” (Voices of Children: Experiences with Violence).
We applaud Mr. Holness for his courageous stance and support his call for an end to corporal punishment. We answer that call today. Let those of us who are concerned at the violence that plagues our nation join forces to work towards the abolition of corporal punishment in our countries.
Yours faithfully,
Andaiye, Josephine Whitehead, Leila Jagdeo, Danuta Radzik, Chantalle Smith, Karen De Souza, Vanda Radzik, Vidyaratha Kissoon (all from Guyana)
