By: memory

memory — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 17:45:16 +0000

No, corporal punishment in any form, towards any age group, for any reason, is immoral, unnecessary and cruel.
It sends out the wrong message and the young grow cynical when they view adults dictating to them with unneccessary harshness.
The hypocritical ‘do as I say and not as I do’ in physical or emotional punishment creates despair and a sense of injustice.
It is contrary to the ethos that we all aspire to: that we help those in need, those who are learning, those who have difficulties.
Zimbabweans are a mix of the compassionate and the vengeful just as in any society. We look forward to those who are compassionate winning the battle against such cruelty.

By: tc

tc — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 10:19:07 +0000

I think this is a relevant debate. In the sense that when punishment in schools reaches the level of brutality it just duplicates political wrongs, and also prepares children to accept them and behave in the same way. I don’t know how corporal punishment is dealt with now but at the school I went to, Eaglesvale, in the 80s, there was a lot of corporal punishment that went beyond the bounds of legality or reason. The school was a sadistic system. I am naming it deliberately – I hope it has improved. Many of the teachers could have been taken to court but never were – why not? – parent’s resignation, turning a blind eye, not wanting children to be victimised…? The same traps that stop us from taking political action on a larger level.
I have just returned from a month in Zim and my very strong feeling is that not much can be expected of govt and that all Zimbabweans can do is look in our own back yards and try to work from there, at our own histories and how we ourselves can change thinking and behaviour. So this kind of debate I think is essential.

Comments on: Punishment in schools – Part 2

By: memory

By: tc