Beating children only teaches them violence
Jul 10, 2008
The Saturday Vision of June 21 reported that an MP in Serere “thrashed†two teachers 10 strokes each because he found them taking waragi and ajono (local brew) at about 10:00am.
By Edith Nakku
The Saturday Vision of June 21 reported that an MP in Serere “thrashed†two teachers 10 strokes each because he found them taking waragi and ajono (local brew) at about 10:00am.
A similar incident was reported a few years ago. Earlier, a government official beat a teacher in a school where he was caught beating pupils and caused a furore. Did anybody smile at that bad news? I am sorry, but I laughed and so did many people.
Why? Because we have been taught to accept and laugh at violence. We have been taught in our schools and homes and it is alright to beat someone, especially if they are younger or weaker than you physically. The reason for the beating may be anything we do not approve of or failure to do something perfectly.
Indifference to child brutality
Our MPs are now being beaten in public and we are bothered. On the same page that the story of the MP caning Soroti teachers appeared, it was reported that MPs were debating Police brutality. Some called for the sacking of the Inspector General of Police, Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura. Why should they be bothered? Is brutality wrong? Yes, yet this is routine in most schools. We accept it for the very young, who are supposed to be the future of our nation —the police officers and the Kayihuras of tomorrow. So why do we complain when it is done to adults?
Corporal punishment as a form
of discipline
Why debate domestic violence and rape when children, girls and boys alike are defiled in school? Why should people be bothered yet corporal punishment is accepted as a form of discipline in Uganda?
We all grieve when a school burns down, killing our children. But we have not understood that our schools have been burning for years; burning with the torture of children. We pay millions to schools to harass our children, keep them in cages, feed them on posho (maize flour) and beans with weevils, tell them that they are stupid, racially discriminate against them in their own country, defile and abuse them, and act like nothing is wrong. We are breeding monsters that will strike back at us!
Many teachers are abusing their power and parents are shying away, remembering the days when they were also treated in the same way and thinking that “if I turned out as a fairly good citizen, then my children will survive this too.†They may not.
Beating linked to violence
For every child who survives our horrible school system, there are five that drop out and 10 that never reach their full potential. Research shows that people who commit violent crime are more likely to have been beaten or experienced severe beating or sexual abuse in their childhood.
The Canadian Medical Journal for October 1995 reported an association between the frequency of slapping and spanking during childhood and a lifetime prevalence of anxiety disorder, alcohol abuse or dependence and externalising problems.
In the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 1989, it was reported that children who are hit suffer more from depression, lower self-esteem, and greater hopelessness about the future.
Other researchers have reported that “spanking teaches short-term lesson, but long-term violence†and that, “toddlers raised with violent treatment showed no empathy to others and exhibited violent behaviour to other toddlers.â€
Lessons from the child beating
For every child that is beaten, there is one child who will think nothing of undressing an MP in public, because it was done to them when they were young. That is what you do to people who do not agree with you or do not do what you say, isn’t it?
My hypothesis is that the MP who beat the teacher is just doing what he was taught.
He has learned like many people in Uganda that beating people is an option, especially people who are weaker than you. He learned this at school, for 15 years or more, when the teachers beat him and he watched the teachers beat and abuse other children. He learned that it is okay to be violent as long as you are stronger and in a position of authority.
Many Christians will quote the saying, spare the rod and spoil the child. But Jesus stated: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength, and love your neighbour as you love yourself.â€
I am sure no parent and teacher would like to be beaten for making a mistake at their place of work. So why do they beat children?
Do unto others as you would like them to do unto you. Child beating in our schools must stop immediately.
The writer is a doctor
The Saturday Vision of June 21 reported that an MP in Serere “thrashed†two teachers 10 strokes each because he found them taking waragi and ajono (local brew) at about 10:00am.
A similar incident was reported a few years ago. Earlier, a government official beat a teacher in a school where he was caught beating pupils and caused a furore. Did anybody smile at that bad news? I am sorry, but I laughed and so did many people.
Why? Because we have been taught to accept and laugh at violence. We have been taught in our schools and homes and it is alright to beat someone, especially if they are younger or weaker than you physically. The reason for the beating may be anything we do not approve of or failure to do something perfectly.
Indifference to child brutality
Our MPs are now being beaten in public and we are bothered. On the same page that the story of the MP caning Soroti teachers appeared, it was reported that MPs were debating Police brutality. Some called for the sacking of the Inspector General of Police, Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura. Why should they be bothered? Is brutality wrong? Yes, yet this is routine in most schools. We accept it for the very young, who are supposed to be the future of our nation —the police officers and the Kayihuras of tomorrow. So why do we complain when it is done to adults?
Corporal punishment as a form
of discipline
Why debate domestic violence and rape when children, girls and boys alike are defiled in school? Why should people be bothered yet corporal punishment is accepted as a form of discipline in Uganda?
We all grieve when a school burns down, killing our children. But we have not understood that our schools have been burning for years; burning with the torture of children. We pay millions to schools to harass our children, keep them in cages, feed them on posho (maize flour) and beans with weevils, tell them that they are stupid, racially discriminate against them in their own country, defile and abuse them, and act like nothing is wrong. We are breeding monsters that will strike back at us!
Many teachers are abusing their power and parents are shying away, remembering the days when they were also treated in the same way and thinking that “if I turned out as a fairly good citizen, then my children will survive this too.†They may not.
Beating linked to violence
For every child who survives our horrible school system, there are five that drop out and 10 that never reach their full potential. Research shows that people who commit violent crime are more likely to have been beaten or experienced severe beating or sexual abuse in their childhood.
The Canadian Medical Journal for October 1995 reported an association between the frequency of slapping and spanking during childhood and a lifetime prevalence of anxiety disorder, alcohol abuse or dependence and externalising problems.
In the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 1989, it was reported that children who are hit suffer more from depression, lower self-esteem, and greater hopelessness about the future.
Other researchers have reported that “spanking teaches short-term lesson, but long-term violence†and that, “toddlers raised with violent treatment showed no empathy to others and exhibited violent behaviour to other toddlers.â€
Lessons from the child beating
For every child that is beaten, there is one child who will think nothing of undressing an MP in public, because it was done to them when they were young. That is what you do to people who do not agree with you or do not do what you say, isn’t it?
My hypothesis is that the MP who beat the teacher is just doing what he was taught.
He has learned like many people in Uganda that beating people is an option, especially people who are weaker than you. He learned this at school, for 15 years or more, when the teachers beat him and he watched the teachers beat and abuse other children. He learned that it is okay to be violent as long as you are stronger and in a position of authority.
Many Christians will quote the saying, spare the rod and spoil the child. But Jesus stated: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength, and love your neighbour as you love yourself.â€
I am sure no parent and teacher would like to be beaten for making a mistake at their place of work. So why do they beat children?
Do unto others as you would like them to do unto you. Child beating in our schools must stop immediately.
The writer is a doctor