Introduction
Corporal punishment has been banned in schools for a considerable period of time now. Even if one talks about military training, as well as the training that is carried out in the United States prisons, there is a strict no when it comes to corporal punishment (Hecker et al. 2014). There are many reasons cited for why it is not appropriate to initiate corporal punishment in schools. Most of the time, the argument is set forth on the fact that students or pupils of any sort who go through corporal punishment are highly likely to face a reduction in their comprehension ability (Hecker et al. 2014). On the other hand, there are certain people and sections that, due to lack of punishment, the amount of discipline that one gets to see in the learning centres has declined (Portela et al. 2015). And there is always a likelihood that students are going to learn from their mistakes if corporal punishment is carried out. In this paper, it will be discussed why corporal punishment should not be allowed at the level of the schools (Hecker et al. 2014).
Thesis Statement
Should corporal punishment be banned at the level of the schools, and what are some of the rationales behind this ban on corporal punishment?
Long-Lasting Punishment’s Mental And Physical Harm
It has been noted that children who are physically punished at the level of the schools are more likely to face problems with regard to their overall aggression and the level of attention that they demand (Hecker et al. 2014). Studies have shown that if corporal punishment is carried out at a frequent level, it is likely to cause higher anxiety levels and increased depression among students (Portela et al. 2015). The children who are facing corporal punishment are the ones who develop the thinking that it is the physically of the whole process that gets the thing done (Hecker et al. 2014). Thus, there is a strong likelihood that they are going to resort to violence themselves later on in the future (Hecker et al. 2014).
Creation Of The Volatile And Violent School Environment
Even if one takes out corporal punishment, it has to be noted that the overall environment in American schools is such that it is highly volatile (Hecker et al. 2014). There is a severe form of lack of discipline (Portela et al. 2015). In this environment, resorting to physical violence is something that is detrimental to the long-term development of the student as well as creating a sense of insaneness for the children and teachers (Hecker et al. 2014). Children who have experience corporal punishment are at an increased risk of bullying. At the same time, it also brings down the level of self-confidence of the children. Corporal punishment signals the fact that how the only way to settle interpersonal conflicts is to make sure that some sort of physical pain and violence must be carried out (Hecker et al. 2014).
Damaging The Overall Education Process
If one looks at the United States legislation, it can be seen that corporal punishment has been banned in military schools, prisons, and other facilities where learning is carried out. The key thing that has been witnessed, and there is sufficient empirical evidence to back the claim that the students who experience some sort of corporal punishment at the school are more likely to be facing these issues (Hecker et al. 2014). They also have a hard time when it comes to their vocabulary development as well as comprehension skills (Hecker et al. 2014). The schools in the past that have used corporal punishment over others are the ones where the results on these criteria were witnessed to be much lower as compared to the students where these facilities are provided (Hecker et al. 2014). The key finding of that research was that how these students had lower vocabulary scores along with lower gradients in the mathematical scores as well. Those sorts of sums up the whole issue with regards to the educational performance of the students.
Consent Of The Parent And The Limit Or Extent Of The Physical Violence
Different parents have different perceptions with regard to the way corporal punishment is supposed to be carried out (Hecker et al., 2014). Not every parent is comfortable with the fact that a non-family member is going to be hitting their children (Hecker et al., 2014). At the same time, there is a strong likelihood that not every child is going to be treated in the same manner in the school. It is due to the fact that, as is the case in any profession, there are going to be likes and dislikes of every teacher (Hecker et al. 2014). If bias and prejudice are going to set in, there is a strong likelihood that the children who are not in the good books of the teacher are going to be faced with a situation where whenever there is any mistake on their part, they will be facing the consequences in the form of the physical violence. That is going to dent the confidence level of the student to a great extent (Hecker et al. 2014). The other important fact that needs to be taken into consideration is the thing that if there is child abuse at home or school, as it is something that is quite permissible and legal, the child does not have the resort or complain (Hecker et al. 2014). The idea thing that needs to be taken into consideration is that the children have feelings as well, and if they are struck, they would have a hard time discussing it with someone when it is going on in a perfectly legal manner (Hecker et al. 2014). The legal and the extent of the physical punishment (Hecker et al. 2014).
Likelihood Of Child Abuse Increasing
Most of the time, if corporal punishment is carried out and there is no improvement in the discipline or some of the old habits resurface, teachers would be well within their right to escalate the level of the punishment (Hecker et al. 2014). They are going to be striking the children much harder next time around, and with the passage of time, the escalation is something that needs to be taken into consideration (Hecker et al. 2014). The extent of the physical punishment and the level it is going to be carried out is another area that needs to be kept in mind so that all the considerations that need to be kept in mind (Hecker et al. 2014). Then, one of the key aspects of the educational process is that the children must be willing to go to school. Instead they would be petrified to go to school (Hecker et al. 2014). When there is fear of punishment among the students, and they are going through the motions during the course of their learning process, then it basically kills the essence of the educational process (Hecker et al. 2014). In some ways, it can be attributed to the fact that the students are scared of the teacher, and that, again, is going to make them slow (Hecker et al. 2014). Even if there is fear of physical punishment in the back of their mind, they are undergoing extreme mental stress during the course of the whole week. All these things need to be looked at in great detail so that a clear perspective is developed in that regard (Hecker et al. 2014). The mental state of the children also needs to be looked at as they should not be willing to take (Hecker et al. 2014). The parents again have a huge responsibility in this regard to the control mechanism that they need to develop (Hecker et al. 2014).
General Opinion Of The Feedback
These days, there is an increase in the fact of how anti-bullying laws are supposed to be set up in schools (Hecker et al. 2014). The key consideration is the fact that how in the long run, it has to make sure that the violence in any setting is needed to be stopped most of the time (Hecker et al. 2014). What really happens is that the one hand, the schools are trying to come up with a campaign that goes the bullying, so it would be contradictory to actually go against this whole idea of anti-bullying if they are resorting to corporal punishment (Gershoff et al. 2015). What must be happening is that the schools must allow the parents to make this call that what is going to be the extent of the corporal punishment is going to be carried out (Hecker et al. 2014). Again, any sort of corporal punishment on the part of the parents as well as the teachers is going to be something that is regarding the bullying behaviour, and as the world is changing, it is not something that is going to be endorsed or allowed in the long run (Gershoff et al. 2015).
There are certain people who are of the point of view that if the child is showing an extreme lack of discipline, then there must be some sort of reprieve for the students to resort to corporal punishment (Gershoff et al., 2015). The interesting thing is the way public opinion has shifted with regard to the implementation of corporal punishment (Hecker et al. 2014). There are large numbers of parents who are of the point of view that these days, it is not okay for anyone else other than their own parents to hit their child (Gershoff et al., 2015). The common argument that is being set forth by the students is that there is no room for any sort of physical during the course of the educational process (Gershoff et al. 2015). The idea on the part of the parents is that the school is such a place where any sort of physical abuse is not allowed in the first place (Gershoff et al. 2015). The school must be a place where all the kids and the teachers must gather, and there should be an exchange of ideas and information (Hecker et al. 2014). The endorsement of physical violence is something that is not being accepted by the teachers. It is a stark contrast to what the situation was about a couple of decades ago (Gershoff et al. 2015).
Statistics With Regard To The Corporal Punishment In The United States
There are fifteen states that have endorsed corporal punishment in the United States with the jurisdiction of the law-making (Gershoff et al. 2015). The key problem that one gets to see in the lawmaking in the United States is also witnessed here as different states have not only different laws but different interpretations with regard to the way corporal punishment is carried out in the United States (Gershoff et al., 2015). At the same time, there are about twenty-eight states and legislations that have banned corporal punishment completely, and there should be no acts of physical violence in this regard (Ogando et al. 2015). Some of the examples in this regard are Alaska, California, Connecticut and New York (Gershoff et al. 2015). Then, there is a strange exception of three states where corporal punishment is banned, but there are certain instances when it is allowed to an extent (Gershoff et al. 2015). The way the interpretation is provided is that there reasonable degree of force is needed to be carried out to make sure that the children who are creating a lot of disturbance can be taken care of (Hecker et al. 2014). Three states in which these laws are implemented are Maine, New Hampshire and South Dakota. At the same time, there are about four states which do not get to see any sort of corporal punishment being implemented in the first place (Gershoff et al., 2015).
Proportion Of The Corporal Punishment Happening In The United States
The extent to which the cases of corporal punishment are carried out goes to show how one gets to see the concentration in this regard (Ogando et al. 2015). States such as Alabama, Arkansas and Texas are the ones where the majority of the cases are reported. As a matter of fact, about 35 % of the cases related to corporal punishment are witnessed at the given time period (Hecker et al. 2014). Last year, in March, there was a consideration to make sure that some sort of mechanism is developed so that corporal punishment is completely banned across the board among schools (Hecker et al. 2014). The bill was also presented in the Senate on 13th of Mar-2017 but it was not carried out in the appropriate manner (Gershoff et al. 2015). As a matter of fact, another interesting aspect that was witnessed in the whole incident that how the punishment was carried out at the given time period. After that bill was shot down, there were no instances of legislation in this regard (Gershoff et al. 2015).
Conclusion
In hindsight, in the current environment, corporal punishment in schools is something that has become highly controversial (Ogando et al., 2015). Even though legislation that one gets to see in the United States in this regard is rather skewed, the key fact that needs to be kept in mind is that the parents themselves are not comfortable with regard to the way corporal punishment is carried out (Hecker et al. 2014). There are many reasons that corporal punishment is something that is going to be declining in the near future (Hecker et al. 2014). There is a sufficient amount of empirical evidence that says how it is harmful to the long-term development of the States (Ogando et al. 2015). Not only that, it instigates a culture of bullying and violence in the schools. As the current environment suggests, parents these days are not really comfortable with the practice of initiating any sort of physical in the school’s premises and any effort that resorts to physical violence needs to be stopped to create a better environment at school (Hecker et al. 2014).
Works Cited
Gershoff, Elizabeth T., Kelly M. Purtell, and Igor Holas. “Prevalence Corporal punishment in schools prevalence, by state of and Attitudes About School Corporal Punishment in the US Bans on School Corporal Punishment in the US.” Corporal Punishment in US Public Schools. Springer, Cham, 2015. 9-24.
Hecker, Tobias, et al. “Corporal punishment and children’s externalizing problems: A cross-sectional study of Tanzanian primary school aged children.” Child Abuse & Neglect 38.5 (2014): 884-892.
Ogando Portela, María José, and Kirrily Pells. “Corporal punishment in schools: longitudinal evidence from Ethiopia, India Peru and Viet Nam.” (2015).
Portela, Maria José Ogando, and Kirrily Pells. Corporal Punishment in Schools-Longitudinal Evidence from Ethiopia, India, Peru and Viet Nam. No. indipa788. 2015.
