School corporal punishment - Research Paper Example

Many nations however have enacted legislations against its use while others still legalise it. In United States for example, about 20 states have it as a legal form of instilling discipline in schools (Human Rights Watch 36). This practice has received increased condemnation in the last 40 years from child rights activists and the general public but some people still advocate for its use. This paper looks into pros and cons of corporal punishment in schools while shedding light on how teachers can slowly remove its reliance as a disciplinary measure.

ARGUMENTS FOR CORPORAL PUNISHMENT By use of corporal punishment students are made aware that there is an authority figure. This helps in ensuring that students respect the elder people in the society and it also draws a line between who is in authority as far as classroom management is concerned. In other instances students hail from quite lenient families who end up spoiling them. They therefore require someone to set them back on the right path of good discipline and respect for authority. In some regions dropping of corporal punishment in schools was followed by considerable decline in performance and heightened indiscipline among students.

This is the case of Britain where teachers complained a great deal after its abolishment was followed by general decline in performance in many schools (Council of Europe 24). Corporal punishment acts as a motivation towards performance and as such it ought to be used where necessary so as to attain desirable results (27). Teachers are trained professionals who are also adults and they know what level of corporal punishment is appropriate for who and when. They should therefore be left to play their part and if they find this kind of punishment to be appropriate, then they can go ahead with it.

This also shows that it is not a form of abuse to students as it is just punishment to an indiscipline student from a responsible teacher. Immediate physical punishment is more preferable than suspension or expulsion since after a few strokes a student goes on with their normal learning activities. The former two forms of punishment interrupt a students learning schedule. Misbehaving students are easily rewarded by suspensions due to the free time they are allowed to stay at home (54). These kinds of children usually stay home alone while their parents are at work and can easily indulge in further naughtiness.

ARGUMENTS AGAINST CORPORAL PUNISHMENT Physical punishment opens doors for abuse and leads to battery tendencies in children. There is a thin line between punishment and abuse and teachers usually cross this line as they wish where the law allows for corporal punishment. Corporal punishment degrades students a great deal as others mock them for being punished. This brings shame to them and if this happens constantly, these students result to having low self esteem. Such a student is lowly motivated to learn or even conduct themselves in a disciplined manner.

This type of punishment has many negative impacts psychologically (Human Rights Watch 92). Anxiety is one of them because students tend to become scared of their teachers in the classroom especially when punishment is imminent from something they had done earlier e.g. failure to have finished yesterday’s homework. Other psychological effects are rigidity, inhibition and depression all of which have far reaching consequences on a student’