Swazi Observer

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CORPORAL PUNISHMENT ENEMY OF PROGRESS IN GBV FIGHT

By Sibusiso Dlamini | 2022-01-23

Newspaper headlines from the past week have been quite disturbing and paint a clear picture of the fact that we have a crisis in our country; the state of our young people is worrying.

In only a few days, we have learnt of two 16 year olds that had a baby and then colluded in allegedly suffocating it to death, and we have learnt of pupils turning rowdy and disturbing classes.

Mhlatane Principal Dr Mandla Dlamini who has been trending if I may steal the language of my age mates, minced no words in letting us know that pupils were getting out of hand, hence his decision to enforce corporal punishment as he is seen in the video circulating on social media platforms.

The hullabaloo over the video has brought to light a debate we have been shying away for some time in our country; the effectiveness of corporal punishment in this day and age or ever nje.

What has been so apparent over the past few months is that our Nation is scared of change, which is understandable, especially when the change seems forced and not fully thought-out, but unfortunately the truth is that as individuals and as a society, we have to get out of our comfort zones to progress.

And to ensure progress, it is very important that we have uncomfortable conversations as well as to unlearn and relearn.
I had many discussions with parents who felt the Mhlatane principal issue was being blown out of proportion because Emaswati have always whipped their children to discipline them.

While I may understand the intentions because nobody can be successful without discipline, what I fail to understand however is why we aren’t taking time to really ask ourselves if corporal punishment has worked when we view things from a different perspective, especially since we live in the day and age where we can use science to inform our decision-making.

Conversations around mental health are new to our culture and society, but we can no longer afford not to have them.
Ask any psychologist on the effects of corporal punishment to a child’s brain and they will tell you that more often than not, corporal punishment tends to do more harm than the good it is initially intended to do.

It is proven that it can lead to increased aggression, antisocial behaviour, as well as other mental health problems.
It is an open secret that some parents and teachers administer it while not being in the right frame of mind, and end up hurting the child physically.

Some are still suffering from trauma they experienced in childhood themselves that they have not dealt with because people who experienced frequent physical punishment during their childhood also tend to be more likely to believe it is acceptable, and in turn, frequently hit their children.

Understand

Hurt people, hurt people, and this is worse when they are not even aware that they’re hurt.
What is so hard to understand about the fact that is affects other children’s self-esteem as it may instil hostility, rage and a sense of powerlessness without reducing the undesirable behaviour?

I know many will be quick to criticise the headline, but I genuinely believe that it certainly does contribute to the alarming GBV cases in our country because while beating a child can somehow work temporarily to stop problematic behaviour because children are afraid of being hit, it doesn’t work in the long term and in ending that behaviour completely.

I used to be the youngest one in my class in primary school and in high school and I used to have a close relationship with the bullies because they felt I needed their protection, so that’s when I learnt that most ‘naughty’ children aren’t ‘bad’ children.

They behave in that way because there’s a bigger problem at play.

Circumstances

Most of them came from families where they dealt with harsh circumstances; therefore they started endorsing hitting as a means of defending themselves or of resolving their conflicts with peers.

I know that many will also be quick to ask that if parents aren’t supposed to hit their children, then what nonviolent techniques can help with discipline and my answer is just talk to them (shrugs shoulders).

I know it’s not easy but parents cannot run away from the responsibility of being parents and it definitely involves spending time with their children to attempt to understand their complex personalities and characters instead of trying to take short cuts.

Building a trusting relationship with your child is the only thing that can help in teaching children that discipline isn’t arbitrary. Otherwise, you can’t beat someone out of anything; and guess what that fear will not last forever.

The gist of today’s piece is that structural change is needed in our society as discipline is as good as useless if installed through fear.

I asked a colleague the other day if they think children are stupid or deserve to be treated as lesser human beings than adults because if it is not acceptable to beat up adults when they’ve committed crimes or made mistakes, why are children treated any different?

If we believe in ‘correcting’ adults, then why do we believe in physically harming children to discipline them?
Honestly, to me anyone who argues the effectiveness of corporal punishment with disregard of the trauma it inflicts on children are just reminding me of one abuse survivor I once interviewed - she had endured years of abuse from her partner and still stayed.

You know why? That’s because physical trauma does not only leave physical scars, but also mental ones and gives a skewed understanding of what love is.

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