NASP Educates Schools on the Effects of Corporal Punishment

CORPORAL PUNISHMENT
Should a teacher be allowed to inflict corporal punishment to instill discipline among delinquent students?

Corporal punishment is defined as the use of physical force with the intention of causing a child to experience pain “but not injury” for the purpose of correction or control of the child’s behavior, the phrase “but not injury” was included in order to distinguish it from physical abuse.

In my point of view the teachers should be allowed to inflict appropriate (with parameters) corporal punishment to instill discipline among delinquent students because it was recognized to be effective dating back from the Spanish colonization era up to the late 1970s evidenced by the kind of leaders we had during those times, from Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio to Ferdinand E. Marcos and Benigno S. Aquino Jr. It was the time of the so called democracy in the late 1980’s that discipline started to deteriorate due to the exploitation of the word freedom/ democracy that was misunderstood by most of the Filipinos that eventually led to loss of Filipino Moral Values and resulted to ambiguity of the firmness of discipline among children.

Corporal punishment has been part of our lives for years. It is one of the fundamental rules being used by both parents and teachers in promoting discipline. In view of the fact that teachers are considered as the second parent of children in schools, they must be allowed to give corporal punishment to their students to correct misbehavior in order to bring control when force is necessary to safeguard and promote the welfare of students inside the classroom.

Moreover, the Bible which is the foundation of Filipino faith, is also in favor of corporal punishment and there are several verses in the book of Proverbs promoting the use of a rod in giving punishment to instill discipline such as the following:

Those who spare the rod hate their children, but those who love them are diligent to discipline them. Prov 13:24 Folly is bound up in the heart of a boy, But the rod of discipline drives it far away Prov 22:15 Do not withhold discipline from your children, If you beat them with a rod, they will not die. If you beat them with the rod, you will save their lives from Sheol. Prov 23:13-14

The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a mother is disgraced by a neglected child. Prov 29:5 A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, And rod for the back of fools. Prov 26:3

Bow down his neck in his youth, and beat his sides while he is young, or else he will become stubborn and disobey you, and you will have sorrow of soul from him. Sir 30:12

It is a sad truth that despite the objectivity and purpose of corporal punishment, advocates of child abuse and human rights activist would embellish the issue as expected, however, the government through the educational sector should have the political will in its implementation and assert their authority because it is their moral endeavor such as in cultivating national discipline (proper attitudes and behaviors toward others in the society, based on social and cultural norms, rules, and law) for every student and consequently to the country.

Given the above reasons, if ever parents ought to give their consent to teachers to give corporal punishment when necessary, the Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education should create a regulatory body that would oversee the welfare of those concerned.

KwAtOg6677
Master in Industrial Psychology