#CorporalPunishment – Are Our Kids Safe At School?

March 29, 2018

Strict teacher — Image used for representation only

Quite a few schools in the city seem to believe corporal punishment is the answer to an errant or naughty student. Despite a strict law against it, this punishment meted out regularly is a stern reality that the city is facing today.

According to The Right To Education Act 2010, physical and mental punishment in schools is strictly prohibited.

The recent case of a teacher punching a student’s back, has evoked serious concerns on safety of children at their school.

Pune365 decided to check the ground really and spoke to students, teachers, and parents to understand the gravity of this.

Rahul, a student of the seventh standard revealed that they still face corporal punishments in school. “My teacher uses rulers and canes to punish us, if we fail to complete our homework and talk during class.”

I complete my homework regularly, yet, there have been times when I have forgotten my book at home. Despite the repeated request of showing her the homework next day, I was still punished.

“They punish us for minor reasons like nails not cut, shoes not polished, untidy uniforms and many more such minor things. I travel on a school bus and don’t meet my school friends after the school is over. They expect us to keep totally quiet in the bus as well,” Rahul adds.

“If a student doesn’t behave properly, teachers and schools must have the right to punish them,” says Ashwini Tarate, a school teacher.

We treat students as our own child, and when a child comes to school, we know that his/her parents have completely trusted us with their child.

There are some students despite of being given many warnings, they just don’t listen. That’s when we teachers take harsh steps of punishing them. So that they have fear in the back of their mind, before repeating these mistakes, Tarate adds.

“If punishing students is going to help them learn good values and education, we should be all doing this at our homes too! ” says a frustrated Mother Deepa Naik.

What sense does it make to harm the child just so that you can inculcate some good values? Teachers often vent their frustration on our children. Most of the times our students are afraid to tell us about the punishment also. We send them schools not to get punished but to develop their futures, adds Deepa.

“It is a universal rule, that if do wrong, you will be punished. Though, I know that teachers often punish too severely, even for a simple reason”, says Shilpa Nikam, parent.

I don’t think it’s wrong if a teacher scolds or hits my son if he has done something wrong. Children tend to believe they can do anything or behave in any manner at school and end up becoming carefree. This should be controlled.

“Though the punishment should not be physically abusing the child, It is important to point out their mistakes and correct them!” Nikam adds.

#All views expressed in this column are those of the individual respondents (names changed to protect privacy) and Pune365 does not necessarily subscribe to them.