Task force appointed to find alternatives to corporal punishment
While the images of last Friday’s protest are still fresh in everyone’s mind, things have quickly swung around at the Ministry of Education, which has now appointed a task force to identify an alternative approach to disciplining students. And while the task force will have all the relevant agencies involved, what comes out of it will be interesting to see. First of all, it is made up of a whopping nineteen members from the Ministry level to General Managers and principals to the Belize National Teachers’ Union to the NGO’s. And they will be tasked with coming up with recommendations on best policies, practices, approaches and strategies for alternative forms of student discipline.
That there are alternatives I do not question however we must consider that not all teachers have been trained to use those alternatives… and this may be more detrimental for the teachers in the longer run because if the ministry is seen as the enemy then why bother teaching to educate…. why no just teach for a salary.. … discipline is important but the minister is moving too fast and from the looks of things he moved without having a logical plan in place before passing that bill.
I hope we include psychologists and sociologists in this task force who will present findings from studies on corporal punishment in Belizean schools to make their case for finding alternatives.
I believe once statistics are presented to teachers and members of the task force who represent the school system, it will make them more informed of why the removal of corporal punishment is seriously being considered.
Also instead of the task force serving to find “alternatives” to corporal punishment, the task force may also want to consider implementing “reforms” in school corporal punishment.
It is possible that the school system is not ready to completely remove corporal punishment and may instead need to make changes.
Apparently corporal punishment in Belizean schools is only supposed to be a last resort, for “serious and repeated offences”. Maybe we already have a good system in place, and it’s just not being enforced, or schools are just not aware of already existing rules in corporal punishment.
I am concerned that “teachers” are confusing coproral punishment and discipline. They seem to think that these two terms are synonimous. If our teachers don’t know the difference then I think that is where our problem lies. It sounds to me that teachers stongly believe that they can “beat ” a person so that they can change their behaviours. What’s wrong with us? Can’t we see that it is because we have been beating children that we have such a high crime rate where criminals believe that they can gat what they want by beating, stealing, killing. Isn’t this what we have been teaching our children. If you have a problem with someone’s behaviour, you can teach them (or those closely affiliated) a lesson them so that they can behave. That is what it boils down to. people.
There is no question- corpral punishment should be removed- no questions asked.
And I would really like to see if and when the alternatives are provided to teachers, if they will really use them. Because real discipline takes work- and that many teachers don’t want to do.
Corporal punishment in schools is child abuse.Teachers are paid to teach. It is backward thinking to think that you could make a better person by beating them
Corporal punishment no solve problems, its been proven and should not be used, like the ministah said theachers use it because they don’t know what eles to do.
We as belizeans were raised getting whippings or beatings from home and school, so its a society thing that needs to be changed. Everything starts at home, parents or what left needs to discipline their kids without hitting I know its hard for some of you cause thats all you know.
Faber, you have a lot of work ahead of you my friend, because dicipline starts at home try getting these parents trained thats where the real problem is.
Child buttock-battering vs. DISCIPLINE:
Child buttock-battering (euphemistically labeled “spanking”,”swatting”,”switching”,”smacking”, “paddling”,or other cute-sounding names) for the purpose of gaining compliance is nothing more than an inherited bad habit.
Its a good idea for people to take a look at what they are doing, and learn how to DISCIPLINE instead of hit.
I think the reason why television shows like “Supernanny” and “Dr. Phil” are so popular is because that is precisely what many (not all) people are trying to do.
There are several reasons why child bottom-slapping isn’t a good idea. Here are some good, quick reads recommended by professionals:
Plain Talk About Spanking
by Jordan Riak,
The Sexual Dangers of Spanking Children
by Tom Johnson,
NO VITAL ORGANS THERE, So They Say
by Lesli Taylor M.D. and Adah Maurer Ph.D.
Most compelling of all reasons to abandon this worst of all bad habits is the fact that buttock-battering can be unintentional sexual abuse for some children. There is an abundance of educational resources, testimony, documentation, etc available on the subject that can easily be found by doing a little research with the recommended reads-visit the website of Parents and Teachers Against Violence In Education at http://www.nospank.net.
Just a handful of those helping to raise awareness of why child bottom-slapping isn’t a good idea:
American Academy of Pediatrics,
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,
American Psychological Association,
Center For Effective Discipline,
Churches’ Network For Non-Violence,
Nobel Peace Prize recipient Archbishop Desmond Tutu,
Parenting In Jesus’ Footsteps,
Global Initiative To End All Corporal Punishment of Children,
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
In 26 countries, child corporal punishment is prohibited by law (with more in process). In fact, the US was the only UN member that did not ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Wonderful to read!