Prevention of Corporal Punishment
Prevention of Corporal Punishment
The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child defines corporal punishment as follows:
“Corporal” or “Physical” is any punishment in which physical force is used and intended to cause some degree of pain or discomfort, however light.
In addition, other non-physical forms of punishment are also cruel and degrading, these include, for example, a punishment which belittles, humiliates, denigrates, scapegoats, threatens, scares, or ridicules the child.
Corporal punishment has unfortunately become a part of children’s lives, both in school and in homes. The parents and teachers support each other in using corporal punishment against children and therefore, it goes unchecked and mostly unnoticed. Corporal punishment has a negative impact on children. Corporal punishment is a violation of a child’s space and rights. Therefore there is an urgent need to stop this practice in every corner of our country. Teachers, parents, and school management need to nurture children with love and teach them skills to help them cope with difficulties, intricacies and complexities of life. The tutorials in this series provide awareness for teachers to avoid corporal punishment and also provide guidelines to maintain positive discipline.
The Spoken Tutorial Effort for Prevention of Corporal Punishment series is contributed by Dr. Snehalatha Kaliappan, Viji Nair and Saurabh Gadgil from Spoken Tutorial Project IIT Bombay.
The script for this series was reviewed by Dr. Bindhulakshmi Pattadath from TISS (Tata Institute of Social Sciences), Mumbai.
In this series, we have 4 tutorials for teachers. The titles and outlines are as follows.
1. Corporal Punishment in Schools
- About NCPCR website
- Definition of corporal punishment
- Some situations that lead to corporal punishment in schools
- Download the document “Guidelines for Eliminating Corporal Punishment in Schools”
- About various types of corporal punishment according to RTE Act 2009
- Examples of how a teacher deals with the situation in a positive manner
- Reasons for the persistence of corporal punishment
- General perceptions and misconceptions about corporal punishment
- Some ground facts about corporal punishment
- Note for teachers about the consequences of corporal punishment
2. Perceptions on Corporal Punishment
- Some common classroom incidents
- Problems faced by teachers in the classroom
- Stress and work pressure experienced by teachers
- Teacher’s perspective of corporal punishment
- Importance of child-friendly schools
- Link for UNICEF manual on how to achieve child-friendly schools
- Suggestions for child-friendly schools
- About child centered principle
- Importance of interactive sessions in the classroom
- Download and save UNICEF manual
3. Consequences of Corporal Punishment
- Story of a child who has undergone corporal punishment
- About behavioral changes in children due to corporal punishment
- Example of a positive attitude of a class teacher
- About consequences of corporal punishment
- About impact of corporal punishment on learning abilities
- Some facts about corporal punishment incidents
- Story of a child who has exhibited violence
- About how corporal punishment leads to antisocial behavior
5. Elimination of Corporal Punishment
- Importance of elimination of corporal punishment in schools
- About role of school management in eliminating corporal punishment
- Importance of Corporal punishment Monitoring Cell (CPMC)
- About members who constitute CPMC
- Role of CPMC as described in NCPCR document
- Role of Counsellor in schools as described in NCPCR document
- Some alternate strategies to eliminate corporal punishment in schools
