- The Islamabad example should be followed thoughout the country
The Islamabad High Court has recently suspended Section 89 of the Pakistan Penal Code in the Islamabad Capital Territory and subsequently banned the practice of corporal punishment employed by teachers, parents and guardians in a bid to correct or punish children’s conduct. Though it was a welcome move, it should be repliated all over the country for the physical and mental well-being of our so-called ‘future of nation’. The suspended section had permitted parents, guardians and teachers to use reasonable corporal punishment as a tool for the correcting the conduct and behaviour of children under 12. It reads “Nothing which is done in good faith for the benefit of a person under twelve years of age, or of unsound mind by or by consent, either express or implied, of the guardian or other person having lawful charge of that person, is an offence by reason of any harm which it may cause, or be intended by the doer to cause or be known by the doer to be likely to cause to that person.…”
The practice of corporal punishment desperately failed in its objective of disciplining children and generating in them set and acceptable patterns of behaviour. Hence it has been done away with in most of the developed world. But sadly enough, in Pakistan its uselessness and harmful impact on the behaviour and personality of children is yet to be realized.
What exactly corporal punishment is and how is it detrimental to children’s psychology and behaviour patterns? Corporal punishment, according to the US National Association of School Psychologists is “the intentional infliction of pain or discomfort and/or the use of physical force upon a student or child with the intention of causing the child to experience bodily pain so as to correct or punish the children’s behavior.” Punishment techniques, among others, include hitting with sticks, slapping, pinching and many other inhuman measures like putting a pencil between fingers and pressing them hard, hitting with a stick hands with palms turned down on a table, and ear pulling. Generally, the practice of corporal punishment is viewed to be employed in the school setting alone. But what one may fail to know or focus on is that the same practice, perhaps more severe in intensity is also employed in other settings; like Alternative Care Settings like in places of safety, foster care emergency care, day care setups, crèches, kindergartens, nurseries, preschools, family centers, penal institutions like borstals and juvenile prisons, madrassas and in homes.
Apart from legislation, awareness programmes and social mobilization campaigns about corporal punishment must be initiated at all administrative levels and the significance of violence-free child rearing be highlighted in all settings. Only through coherent and directed efforts, can a non-violent, conducive and child friendly atmosphere be created where the future of the nation could grow and thrive to the fullest
The brutal death of teenager Hunain Bilal, who succumbed to death due to torture from teacher September last year in a private school in Lahore should have come as an eye-opener for all having a stake in policymaking in the country. According to the police report of the incident, the teenager was badly slammed against the wall, repeatedly punched in face and grabbed by hair by his teacher in the classroom. Honestly speaking, a number of the likes of Hunain become victims (though not killed) of this barbaric act of ‘civilizing children’’ in all settings and these are barely reported because of the contacts of the perpetrator.
The brutalities of physical assault and punishment leave almost indelible detrimental thought patterns and behaviour throughout the lives of the victims. According to a new piece of research, the youth violence rate is less in countries that banned corporal punishment. The learning and grooming of the mind and body of a teenager is left badly traumatized by such punishment leaving the creative, inquiring free-will facilities are badly affected. It makes children irrationally phobic that ‘a mistake will cause them shame or pain’. Subsequently, they are not apt to try, take chances and risks to the extent that life these days requires them to do to survive and thrive. They learn less as learning is but the output or sum of the mistakes one makes in life to learn and earn from. Moreover, corporal punishment makes children to learn to take revenge; they assume that an injustice was meted out to them, and hence they become less forgiving or patient in their later life. Additionally, children are highly likely to lose respect for teachers, parents or guardians who physically assault them.
Various researches have repeatedly shown that a child experiencing corporal punishment develops increased aggressive behaviour towards their fellows, tend to approve violence and torture in their relationships, bullying of others and more aggression to their parents. Increased bad behaviour patterns are among the other detrimental impacts of physical punishment. Cheating, lying, bullying and involvement in crime are some the behaviours resulting from corporal punishment. Additionally, psychological traumas, mental health challenges, behavioral disorders, depression, anxiety disorders, suicidal thoughts, substance abuse, emotional instability, lowered self-esteem and hostility also result from torturing a child in any setting.
According to Unicef data, laws banning corporal punishment exist merely in 60 countries, putting around 600 million children under five liable to physical assault and punishment. The research further shows that the countries that ban smacking children altogether experience 69 prcent less physical fighting and violence.
Despite being among the first to ratify United Nations Convention on Rights of Child, which declared corporal punishment a legalized form of violence to be eliminated from all types of settings with through legislative, administrative, educational and social endeavours, Pakistan failed do away with this horrific menace. There is to date no coherent and uniform policymaking and legislation in Pakistan that may bar physical punishment in all settings.
The IHC’s move should serve as an impetus to create ‘violence-free space for children in all settings’. Taking ahead the IHC verdict, the colonial era’s Section 89 should be abrogated altogether.
Merely abrogating a section will not eradicate physical violence against children unless it is penalized through a coherent and uniform legislation and its effective implementation.
Apart from legislation, awareness programmes and social mobilization campaigns about corporal punishment must be initiated at all administrative levels and the significance of violence-free child rearing be highlighted in all settings. Only through coherent and directed efforts, a non-violent, conducive and child friendly atmosphere can be created where the future of the nation could grow and thrive to the fullest.
Freelance Columnist based at Kandh Kot
