Positive Discipline In The Classroom: Spare The Rod And Save The Child

By Susan Rao

There was a time when being rapped on the knuckles, being made to run around the school grounds, kneeling down, standing in the sun for hours, being hit with the ruler or being slapped were forms of disciplining that schoolchildren expected and received regularly. Are these still considered acceptable and necessary?

The Death Of Corporal Punishment In India

The tragic death of Shanno Khan, a 2nd class student at a Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) school who was allegedly punished by her class teacher, stirred up the old controversy about whether corporal punishment should be banned in schools.

More recently, in the death of Rouvan Rawla, a student of La Martiniere for Boys, in Kolkata, four teachers were charged under the Juvenile Justice Act 23, which relates to “torture of a child” by the custodian of the place/institution – a non-bailable, cognisable offence.

Of the twenty-nine Indian states and seven Union territories, only seven – Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Chandigarh, Goa and Delhi have banned corporal punishment. Yet, cases of children being hurt by such punishments crop up time and again, as in the recent case of the kindergarten child branded with an iron pipe by a school teacher in a Junagadh school.

A study by UNICEF Save the Children – an organisation that fights for children’s rights in India – found that 65% of school-going children in India reported facing corporal punishment. This means two of three school-going children are victims of corporal punishment at some point. Revealingly, 62% of the victims were students in Government and municipal schools.

Current Attitudes To Child Discipline

‘Spare the rod and spoil the child’ is apparently still held as universally true, with most educators and even parents agreeing with it to some degree. Many believe that a blanket ban would make it hard to discipline children.

Rousseau put forward the idea that there should be no formal discipline; that the child should be allowed to suffer the natural consequences of his actions. Natural consequences were both inevitable and more just than those devised by humans.

Later philosophers and educators, like Maria Montessori, felt that repression was harmful and rewards should be favored.

Why Rewards And Punishments Don’t Work

While philosophers view rewards and punishments as a means of enforcing discipline, psychologists regard them as motivation; that is, if the response to a given stimulus results in a satisfying state of affairs, it is likely to be repeated. Likewise, if the response is pain and hurt, it is unlikely to be repeated, thus justifying both rewards and punishments.

Punishments are based on the theory that fear, anxiety and avoidance of pain are powerful motivating forces and could be used in the learning process. When the child learns to trust an authoritative adult to set limits as to how far he can go, punishment may be used to reinforce those limits.

Punishments can be divided into two categories – corporal and non-corporal. The former comprises of slapping, caning or flogging, and the latter includes reproofs and denial of privileges, extra work, detention, impositions, a public apology, fines – and, in the case of schoolwork – keeping the child out of class, lowering grades or sending him before a student jury.

The effectiveness of these punishments varies. Corporal punishment, which results in external obedience and often physical injuries, arouses anger, sullenness, unwillingness to cooperate and a desire to get even. It therefore defeats the purpose and has no educational value, nor is it relevant to the issue in any way whatsoever. It has therefore rightly been banned in schools all over the world.

Of the others, reproofs can be good if delivered in a proper atmosphere and a denial of privileges. Extra work and lowering of grades, however, subvert the basic motivation to learn, while it is the parents who pay fines – not the child.

Sending the child out of the class may be a fulfillment of the child’s desire. Sending him before a student jury may be effective, provided there is someone in authority to see that the jury is not too harsh.

However, before administering any punishment, the reason for the punishable act must be ascertained and the person administering it must make sure he or she is not administering it in a fit of anger – as the teacher in the case of Shanno Khan did. It should be corrective rather than punitive, and should never aim at making the child a laughing stock among his peers.

Punishment has less predictable results than other modes of influencing the child. The undesirable effects such as anxiety and increased emotionality result in decreased learning and related work. It also results in resentment towards the person who punishes.

There is disintegration of morale, a feeling of unworthiness and possible over-submissiveness, and the child ends up doing something only to avoid the punishment rather than because of any natural inclination.

Both punishment and rewards stimulate children to greater effort in the desired direction, but after a while there is a decline in performance after punishing. Although punishment is the only option that many Indian educators are aware of, the recent school tragedies are shocking to say the least.

School administrations have to wake up and take stock. At the same time, one also needs to question the laws of the land. How far do they protect a schoolchild from the wrath of authority figures?

The Law On Child Rights In India

Article 89 of the Indian Penal Code (1860) states that ‘nothing which is done in good faith for the benefit of a person under 12 years of age, or of unsound mind, by or by consent, either express or implied, of the guardian or other person having lawful charge of that person, is an offence by reason of any harm which it may cause or be intended by the doer to cause or be known by the doer to be likely to cause to that person.’

Section 89 protects the adult from the consequences of his actions; no law protects children from the adult. The Government passed the Juvenile Justice Act 2000, but it remains insufficient and ineffective. An adult, even if booked under this act, can be let off with a fine of a few thousand rupees.

In 2000, the Delhi High Court ruled that the provisions for corporal punishment in the Delhi School Education Act (1973) were inhumane and detrimental to the dignity of children. The NCPR (National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights) has recommended the abolition of corporal punishment in all schools.

In 2000, the Supreme Court said that it should be seen that ‘children are not subjected to corporal punishment in schools and that they receive education in an environment of freedom and dignity, free from fear.’

All these laws are in place, but most schools have not paid heed or simply do not care to implement them. Although a blanket ban may not be practical (there are always pros and cons to every law) parents associations should work in cooperation with the school management in deciding on and enforcing discipline.

What is needed is an alternative mechanism that will give teachers the scope to allow a child to suffer the consequences of bad behavior, while protecting the child from physical and emotional trauma. Intrinsic rewards such as giving freedom, responsibility and verbal praise as reinforcement of desirable behavior may arouse the child’s interest by appealing to the higher motives of the child.

Positive discipline can help teachers establish and maintain respectful, nurturing relationships with students

Positive Discipline Techniques: Creating Mutual Respect In The Classroom

In the book, Positive Discipline, A Teacher’s A-Z Guide, Jane Nelsen and other experts offer a comprehensive A to Z guide that addresses modern-day problems and practical solutions for establishing an effective learning environment. They provide educators with 17 fundamental tools of positive discipline, with real-life stories of proven positive discipline strategies and suggestions for establishing and maintaining respectful, nurturing relationships with students.

It’s not that gentler discipline techniques do not exist. It’s just that awareness of them has not reached Indian parents and educators. With positive discipline techniques so readily available to anyone who cares to learn about them, schools and educational institutions can no longer claim helplessness and ignorance about methods that discipline students without causing harm.

The widespread adoption of positive discipline techniques may take years to implement In India, but adults in authority – whether they are parents or teachers – must be sympathetic and understanding of a child’s needs. After all, they are there to teach and nurture children, not maim them.

Susan Rao is a freelance writer based in Hyderabad.

This article may be reproduced with the complete author bio and a live link back to http://www.lovingyourchild.com

Recommended resources:

• Positive Discipline. In The. Classroom: Teacher’s Package – Hundreds of schools use these amazingly effective strategies for restoring order and civility to today’s turbulent classrooms. Now you too can use this philosophy as a foundation for fostering cooperation, problem-solving skills, and mutual respect in children. Imagine, instead of controlling behavior, you can be teaching; instead of confronting apathy, you will enjoy motivated, eager students!
• How to Motivate Children in the Classroom – NLP parenting and teachers program highlights the strategies and techniques that can be applied to positively motivate children or students at home, school or seminar rooms. The practical strategies and techniques include a combination of common-sense judgment and Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) techniques to enrich and motivate kids and students in school, home and social interactions right through to their adult lives.
• Free Child Discipline Presentation – 3 effective keys to stop misbehavior and get any child to listen. Learn effective ways to disciplining children and getting your child to listen and cooperate without putting up a fuss.

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