THE ISSUE OF corporal punishment in schools has come to the fore again this week with Minister of Education Ronald Jones suggesting that the time has probably come for Barbados to do away with flogging.
Mr Jones went further in saying that he believed it should be removed from the statute books as it was a “historic thing”.
The minister, a former teacher, based his suggestion on the belief that teachers should not be causing more pain in order to encourage discipline.
The matter of whether or not corporal punishment should be abolished is an often debated one. There are those who believe in the old adage “spare the rod, spoil the child”. Others lobby to see the back of flogging, believing it to be an archaic way to instil discipline.
Strong arguments have been advanced to support the merits of each side. However, corporal punishment ought to remain an option to be used at the discretion of principals and teachers who are in close contact with their charges for a good portion of the day.
That said, they should never exercise it without first gauging the situation with a view to determining if it merits corporal punishment.
It is also important for teachers to recognise that there are various forms of discipline that can also be pursued depending on the infraction. Teachers must be open to other methods of chastising their charges, making them aware of where they went wrong. Measures must also be taken to guard against going to extremes when administering corporal punishment.
There are horror stories recounted where students can tell of teachers whipping until there is bruising. These acts of punishment cannot be condoned and all must be done to ensure we protect our children.
Just this week there was a report of a young Egyptian schoolboy who died after being severely beaten by his teacher. The boy had head injuries and suffered a brain haemorrhage.
This is not a scenario we would want to see in Barbados and for this reason, we endorse the comments by the Minister of Education who cautioned against “brutality on our young people”.
Hence the call is made not for the outlawing of corporal punishment but, instead, for responsible means of disciplining our students for acts of wrongdoing.