Corporal punishment for class topper too!

June 22, 2003 · Filed Under General · 1 Comment 

A week after her teacher bashed her with a bulky record notebook, 17-year-old Caroline T. Daffadil, still struggles hard to move the swollen neck and lift her face. She is unable to stand without support. Tears roll down her chubby cheeks as the Plus-Two student of a government school at Ponneri, near here, tries to pick up a book to prepare for next month’s public examination.
“No, I am not able to hold the book,” she sobs, her neck tilted right. The class topper is unsure of taking her examination.
You can read more about this sordid episode in this news item that appeared in The Hindu
I wish God make yet another avatar to save the children from the evil hands of the demented pedagogy!

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Ban corporal punishment!

June 22, 2003 · Filed Under Children · 1 Comment 

And punish those rabid criminals who unleash violence on innocent school children! These sadists constitute a menace to any civilized society. Nothing can be more cruel than beating a helpless child which is defenseless in the face of such bloodthirsty maniacs. And to use such weapons like canes and bound volumes of unread books is nothing short of barbarism. The case of Ramu Abhinav, a 16-year-old boy in Chennai, India who committed suicide after being thrashed by his schoolmaster underlines a sadistic tendency among a class of people entrusted with the well being and welfare of children. If acts of teachers were to drive their students to death, it merely indicates a serious malaise in our society. It is unfortunate that many schools in India still have rules permitting corporal punishment. Well-meaning newspapers like the very popular The Hindu are running a campaign editorially against such cruel practices, but the basic mindset amongst the teachers and parents that the child is to be treated like a perennial delinquent must get transformed.
I reproduce the following lines from the leader of The Hindu which succinctly depicts the social effects of the child’s woe:

India’s education is handicapped in yet another way: an inadequate number of dedicated teachers. It is true that school-teachers continue to be ill-paid, and, obviously, the profession often attracts the mediocre or those who fail to find other jobs. Even those who are talented and are capable of moulding tomorrow’s India soon fall into a rut of poverty and disrespect. The rod comes in handy for them to deal with their own resentment and anger against a society that is callously indifferent to their interests and betterment. The weak and helpless student is thus reduced to a punching bag. Such bodily abuse can affect a boy or a girl for life. Research has revealed that corporal punishment is not merely ineffective, but also makes children defiant, rebellious and hostile. They can develop a warped personality; they can become spouse beaters, molesters, rapists. What is more, they begin to believe that might is right, and that violence is the answer to most problems.

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