Corporal punishment an unfortunate reality-Suruchi Gandhi

1. Corporal Punishment
An Unfortunate Reality

2. UNFORTUNATE HEADLINES

3. UNFORTUNATE HEADLINES
Rajasthan teacher arrested for beating children
with belt.
Kolkata school girl jumps to death after being
scolded by invigilator.
TN teacher gets a month jail for cutting 10-yrold’s hair.
Teacher’s beat up boy over tobacco.

4. UNFORTUNATE HEADLINES
Visva Bharati University Bengal Warden Uma
Poddar forced a girl to consume her own
urine.
Ramjit Yadav of a MCD School beats Fardeen, a
class V student with fists,kicks and cane, locks
him in a classroom for 3 hours, on the suspicion
of breaking window pane.
Teacher “breaks” boy’s nose after losing at
chess.

5. “Shanno never went to school again”
Shanno Khan, an 11 year old student in a Delhi
school lost her life to corporal punishment. As a
form of punishment, she was forced to stand in
the scorching sun for 2 hours and was denied
water until she fainted. She reportedly slipped
into a coma and died in the hospital the next day.
Her last words to her mother before slipping
into coma were, “ I do not want to go to school
ever again”

6. “Cruelty at it’s worst”
Amiya is a student of class 2 in a prestigious school in
Delhi. She enjoyed taking part in various activities
and was a chirpy child. Gradually she stopped taking
part in activities and refused to go to school for no
apparent reason. Upon closer questioning by her
parents and the Counselor it was revealed that her
class teacher had made a “donkey chair” in the
classroom. The class teacher would punish students
by making them sit on the “donkey chair”. Amiya was
twice made to sit on that chair.
She felt humiliated and thus refused to go to school

7. What is corporal punishment?
It is defined under the human right laws, as any
punishment that involves physical force that is
intended to cause some type of pain or
punishment. (“Corporal Punishment.”)

8. Corporal Punishment An
Unfortunate Reality
Some Facts

9. Hitting, kicking, pulling the
hair, slapping, smacking, standing on
bench.
 Uncomfortable positions like holding
ears through legs, kneeling etc.


Detention in classroom, toilet or
any closed space.

10. Any non-physical treatment detrimental to
the academic and psychological well-being of
a child.
•Sarcasm
•Derogatory remarks
•Ridiculing the child with
Background/Status
Being a student of
25% reservation
non payment of fees
Health
Learning difficulty or
speech disorder such
as stammering

11. Effects Of Corporal Punishment


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Direct physical harm
Negative impacts on mental and physical health
Poor Self esteem
Poor cognitive development
Increased aggressive and destructive behavior.
 Vandalism, poor achievement, drop out,
 Anxiety, somatic disorders, suicide or suicidal
tendencies, retaliation
Children accept it a practice of dealing with conflict
among fellow students.

13. 13

14.  Article 21 : Protects the right to life, dignity and
Education for children up to 14 yrs of age.
 In the spirit of Article 21 Corporal Punishment:



Amounts to abuse the freedom & dignity of a
child;
Is violative of the right to life with dignity.
Its fear makes children avoid school or dropout, hence, interferes with a child's Right to
Education.

15. INDIAN PENAL CODE - IPC
Provisions of IPC can be used to prosecute perpetrators of corporal
punishment against children in an institutional setting
 Section 305: Abetment of suicide committed by a child;
 Section 323: Voluntarily causing hurt;
 Section 325: voluntarily causing grievous hurt;
 Section 326: Voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or
means;
 Section 352: Assault or use of criminal force
 Section 354: Outraging the modesty of a woman;
 Section 506: Criminal intimidation;
 Section 509: Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty
of a woman;

16. THE JUVENILE JUSTICE ACT 2000
(CARE & PROTECTION OF CHILDREN)
Section 23 of JJ Act , 2000
“ Whoever, having the actual charge of, or
control over, a juvenile or the
child, assaults, abandons, exposes or wilfully
neglects the juvenile or causes or procures
him to be assaulted, abandoned, exposed or
neglected in a manner likely to cause such
juvenile or the child unnecessary mental or
physical suffering shall be punishable with
imprisonment for a term which may extend to
6 months, or fine, or with both.”

17. Affirmative Actions In
Schools Towards
Positive Development
of Children

18. Levels 1–2: Not keeping to time and
cleanliness, regulations and academic
related issues
•Give the child an opportunity to explain
•Give opportunities for student to find
solutions for the problem when he/she
doesn’t meet expectations

19. •Give a warning and a chance before
taking any further action
•When the frequency is more, involve
family members who could supervise the
student
•With adolescents, work through the
frustration about not achieving the goal
and how to achieve it the next time

20. Not meeting classroom expectations of school
authorities, e.g. inattentive, talking in class, making
noise in class, etc.
•Set limits (in a clear tone without being angry) for
mutually agreed behaviour in class.
•Strategies like seating in front to limit distractions,
frequent one-to-one attention
buddy support (seating with another child who is
of low risk for such behaviour), etc. should help
younger children.

21. •Try managing a problem with minimal disruption
to other children.
•A simple verbal warning e.g. just calling out the
name of the child who is talking in the class or
asking him/her question could help.
•With older children, humour could be used to get
across the point.

22. •Check for underlying causes such as learning
difficulties, attention deficit and
hyperactivity, difficult home
environment, trauma etc.
•Consult the school counsellor to provide
attention enhancing tasks/games.
•Discuss the problem with parents, the efforts
made and give them the choice of
consultation.

23. )
Troublesome behaviour, causing hurt or injury
to others:
•Not only teachers, but children also should
have an idea of other children’s rights. When
children violate the rights of others:
Give the child an opportunity to explain
his/her behaviour without threatening
Set clear limits and discuss the possible
consequences of such behaviour
Have a plan for dealing with violence which is
also discussed with students in advance

24. •If the student regrets his action, have
the student visualise appropriate
response to provocation(other than
aggression)
• Clarify if the behaviour is recent or
longstanding

25. •For behaviour such as engaging in
fighting/lying, when occasional , give assignments on
writing down possible consequences of such
behaviour, writing alternative solutions (with
assistance from parents), and possible ways of
dealing with anger-provoking situations.

26. • When the issue is serious or acute – such as,
unprovoked aggression, vandalising, disrupting the
school routine – explain to the parents the need for
immediate consultation with a child and adolescent
psychiatrist to prevent harm to the child and other
children
• For truancy, have parents notify school through SMS
when student leaves the house in the morning; check if
child is avoiding any test/class due to learning disability
or fear
•Identify where school may contact the student if the
student does not show up on time
•Send SMS to parents in case of frequent / regular
absenteeism

27. Addressing difficult situations in schools
Some situations where schools should have a
clear protocol to guide teachers
Troublesome behavior
(disturbing other children in class, lying
, stealing etc.)
Offensive behavior
(causing hurt or injury to othersbullying, aggression towards
peers, stealing, vandalizing, etc.)

28. Addressing difficult situations in schools
Some situations where schools should have a
clear protocol to guide teachers
The protocol should spell out the need for
assessment & intervention by
• School counselor or
• Higher authorities at school or
• Intimation to Parents

29. Rights And Enablement Of The
Teaching Community In School

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Preventive strategies should take priority while
planning interventions to improve the teacher
student relationship
Create a child-friendly environment in schools.
Provide guidelines and assistance to school
systems and empower them with alternative
effective strategies to handle difficult situations.
To this end, regular workshops are essential for
teachers to share their experiences and learn from
each other and from experts who could help them
manage difficult situations.

30. Positive Engagement
LIFE – SKILLS EDUCATION
30

31. Positive Engagement
LIFE – SKILLS EDUCATION


Life Skill education should be used as a mode
of healing.
Life-skills education should address issues of

self-esteem, aggression, drug abuse,, decisionmaking,
problem-solving,
coping
with
emotions/stress etc.

32. ROLE OF SCHOOL MANAGEMENT/
ADMINISTRATION
 No physical/mental punishment or harassment of any


kind should be permitted.
Instances of corporal punishment, mental harassment
or discrimination should be dealt with in time bound
manner.
Create an environment free of fear, trauma, prejudice
and discrimination.

33. Guidelines for Creating An Environment
Conducive To Learning

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
Conduct of teachers and staff should foster spirit of
inclusion, care and nurturing.
Teachers should be trained to understand and positively
engage children who are different.
Staff should be given clear Indicative guidelines that
should be adopted in different situations.
“No Touch” policy to be practiced in school.

34. Guidelines for mechanisms and processes
to Give Children A Voice, Create a Positive
Environment

Drop – boxes for complaints

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Have a mechanism to address the complaints.
Enable “Class bal-sabha” for a democratic
process.
Let Students Council decide on a set of codes
and rules that does not violate the rights of
children.
Create a CPMC – Corporal Punishment
Monitoring Cell.

35. ROLE OF CPMC
(Corporal Punishment Monitoring Cell)

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To hear grievances of corporal punishment,
sexual abuse, mental harassment &
discrimination without any delay.
Ensure student is not forced / influenced by
the school authorities when testifying.
See whether adequate preventive steps have
been taken.
To ensure protection and care of “Victim
Child”

36. A QUESTION THAT NEEDS AN
ANSWER….

37. A QUESTION THAT NEEDS AN
ANSWER….
Would school corporal punishment
promote well-disciplined students?
•Corporal punishment would not promote
better discipline in the schools because
fear is not an appropriate motivator
for students.
•Corporal punishment teaches the
student that violence is the
answer……….

38. Attitudes and practices
Corporal Punishment is widely accepted and is a common
practice in all countries.
It kills a significant number of children every year and injures
millions of them in all regions, including in Asia.
Child victims of corporal punishment are more likely to
develop aggressive, anti social and self destructive behaviour.
Corporal Punishment is
one of the causes of
children running away
from
families
or
communities and of
school drop-out.