Discipline pupils mildly

The adage ‘spare the rod and spoil the child’ is not an idle one. It is laden with wisdom but sadly, policy makers at the Ministry of Education and society at large have chosen to ignore it in the quest to keep up with modernity.

Corporal punishment was outlawed from schools with good reason. There have been cases where overzealous teachers have caned students to death. Many students have been scarred from punishment that was not commensurate with the offence. Viewed in isolation, these cases form a  good argument for banning punishment in schools.

The downside of the withdrawal of punishment has been a rise in indiscipline cases. Some students ignore school rules, fail to do homework and disrespect teachers fully aware nothing could be done to them. The result is raising a generation that has scant respect for rules and order.

Acts of indiscipline were recently witnessed in arson attacks in many schools last term.
It is a proven fact that children behave well when faced with the prospects of retribution whenever they step out of line. Clearly, there is need for a review of the rules on punishment even as teachers are urged to appreciate that they are dealing with little children and any form of punishment should be minimal, serving only to correct and not to harm.