The Process of Harmonious Living - Case Study Example

CORPORAL PUNISHMENT Introduction In every society,there are certain requirements that are stipulated to guide the process of harmonious living. It is the expectation in every society that its members will train the coming generations to live by the norms that are established and that these generations will also teach the succeeding generations about the same. Norms are set in every society so that people can know how to respect each other as well as take care of the extent to which certain interactions and activities are to be done. Whenever people go beyond their set limits in terms of interaction and activities in their environment, they are meant to face the consequences for that. In every society, there are provision for rewards over certain actions. For instance, there are punishments for wrongs done by all people, whether by the state or by the caregivers for the sake of children. On the other hand, there are rewards whenever a right thing is done which is beneficial either to the individual or to other members of the society. It is a common expectation in every society that good behaviors are upheld and encouraged, so that the doers of such can continue to do them. For those who do things that are not in the expectation of society, different actions and efforts are done by the immediate people so as to discourage such. In the society, the law has been enacted to govern the actions of people as well as their behavior in their different duties (Kendall 2009). According to the law, something that is done and is not in tandem with the legal expectations, it is considered a crime. For such actions, the law gives different kinds of punishments and correctional strategies. The strategies that the law recommends for actions that are not according to the set principles are different depending on the severity of the harm. The school system There are special systems that are legally accepted in the society so that its members can go through them in order to learn about the important aspects of living in harmony with other people. For instance, the school set up is one of the most reliable systems where people learn not only to live harmoniously in the society, but also givers learner’s an opportunity to sharpen their knowledge and skills to live a prosperous life. A school is where important values about a society, the nation and the international community are learnt. A person who goes through the school system is expected to understand and to be aware of national and international concerns in the society. For this reason, a school should offer opportunities for one to understand the beliefs and practices of different groups of people. The school trains its learners in diverse ways in accordance to the level of growth and development of their cognitive processes. As learning progresses, learners are usually exposed to issues that are more complex until they are fully competent. Punishment in school A school brings together learners who have been brought up in different backgrounds, teaching them how to interact and co-exist harmoniously. Since all this learners have been brought up differently, they have certain values given to them by their immediate caregivers and may not be in tandem with a school’s policies. In order to help all these learners to live and interact well in school, there are certain policies that the school establishes for its learners to read and implement them to the later. Alongside the rules are different sets of punishment for any learner who happens to violate them. The policies made by a school are supposed to be in tandem with a society’s norms as well as the laws of the republic. This way, a learner is able to learn how to adhere not only to the school’s policies, but also to the laws of the republic. Just like the laws made in a country’s constitution, punishments are an important part of a schools policies. There are several and different kinds of punishments in the school depending on the type of mistake that a learner happens to commit. All these punishments are meant to enable learners know the consequence of their actions while in the school. One of the punishments that has raised a lot of controversy in the school set up is corporal punishment (Ahmad, Said & Khan 2013). Corporal punishment It involves a thoughtful action of inflicting pain as a way of retribution for a mistake or offense committed. This kind of punishment is regarded as a way of disciplining or reforming the wrongdoer, at the same time, corporal punishment plays an important role in inhibiting wrong attitudes and behavior that may be unacceptable in the society. In executing the punishment, the person doing it usually methodically strikes the offender with an open hand or with an implement, which in this case can be a stick or a rod (Elizabeth & Violato 2004). Corporal punishment is prevalent in school setting as well as in domestic affairs like at the home. It is also used in jails, but only if legal directions have been passed by the court over the wrongdoer or law offender. In school settings, the use of corporal punishment has been a subject of debate by many human rights activists as well as educational reformers. There are cases where teachers have been recorded to have spanked children and they suffered great physical harm. In fact, several teachers have lost their jobs after they lost their case against corporal punishment. Human rights activists have been vocal in advocating for non-corporal forms of punishment in educational institutions, saying that it is a form of betrayal to the rights of the learner. However, there seems to be a huge controversy over this issue since the same kind of punishment is used in judicial processes. The question is, if corporal punishment can be used in jail system, at what time does it cease to be right? The Bible, society and legal Institutions The Bible is a tool that is held with great esteem by people who profess the Christian faith; they say that it is useful for reproach and correcting people against different mistakes and wrongdoings. The Bible, just like the law gives a history of how different wrongs were treated in the olden days and how similar actions and other related are supposed to be handled. There seems to be great contradiction in terms of how different wrongs are supposed to be handled in the Bible and how the society and legal provisions stipulate (Council of Europe, 2007). Christians seem to prefer the way of the Bible, which in some cases is highly disregarded by the law and society. For instance, the Bible holds that children are supposed to be given corporal punishment whenever they make mistakes, pointing out that this is the only way to help them become better people in the society. While the Bible holds that corporal punishment is a child’s right, modern practices in human rights law highly discourage it on grounds that it denies a child his right. The Bible says, “spare the rod, spoil the child,” this way, it advocates for the use of the cane when correcting mistake sin children (Gould 2007). In punishing children with a rod, the Bible also says that parents should do so in love, it should not be meant to hurt, but only to inflict temporal pain on the child, something that the law does not give an little chance. The society also seems to accept the perspective of the Bible, with parents opting to discipline their children with this form of punishment. Some parents say that children may be too young to comprehend dialogue, this is because they forget quickly as their brain is not developed to understand so important things, In this case, the cane is a possible tool to make them keep to the rules required for them to live a good life in the society. The Bible also has different views about the concept punishing some kinds of offences, for instance, of people happen to quarrel and engage in a fight. The law may require that the person that was responsible for the harm be made to pay for it after investigation. This is the principle of the law of tort, where people who commit offences are meant to pay for them by compensating the victims of their actions. According to the law, this is a good way to punish those people with a tendency to commit such offenses. According to the Bible, the idea of such punishments is not highly regarded, instead, the Bible advocates for forgiveness and reconciliation. Both the offender and the victim are meant to come to dialogue, air their views, forgive each other and reconcile. According to the Bible, Christ died for the sins of all people, this way, Christ reconciled all people back to God after they had sinned and fallen short of Gods glory. In the same way, all people who profess the Christian faith have to live by examples that have been set by Christ. In this case, Christians are supposed to embrace the concept of forgiveness according to the commandment of Christ. The view of forgiveness is regarded differently by the society and the law, according to these two institutions, the law has to punish all those who act in violation of the law, and thereby forgive each other later. In general, there are different issues upon which the Bible, the society and the law seem to be in conflict. The law is supreme in any republic and those who live in the republic have to live by it, in this case, all Christians have to submit to the law as long as long as they are in the republic. The law in a country, does not discriminate against any religion, tribe or race, it serves all people. This means that all people in the society are supposed to live by it, the society being a cosmopolitan environment means that the Bible should be reserved for the Christians and the law be allowed to serve everybody. References Ahmad, I., Said, H., & Khan, F. (2013). Effect of corporal punishment on students motivation and classroom learning. Review of European Studies, 5(4), 130-134. Council of Europe (2007). Abolishing corporal punishment of children. Questions and answers. Building a Europe for and with children. New York: Council of Europe Publishing. Elizabeth, O. P., & Violato, C. (2004). A meta-analysis of the published research on the affective, cognitive and behavioral effects of corporal punishment. The Journal of Psychology, 138(3), 197-221 Gould, M (2007). Sparing the rod. London: The Guardian. Kendall, D (2009). Sociology in Our Times: The Essentials. Boston: Cengage Learning. Read More