When I was in school back in the eighties, the cane was the trademark of any 'proper' school. In other words, cane and school were twin brothers
When I was in Standard Four, for instance, my Mathematics teacher world 'burst' into class, a nyahunyo (Maasai whip made from car tyres) dangling under his arm and he would menacingly cry out, "Stand up...Tables!" This was a signal that we were to start reciting the Mathematical multiplication tables. Anyone showing signs of not knowing what was going on would be descended upon by his whip. I was a victim of the swish of his whip almost everyday: numbers and mathematical signs were as Greek (!) to me. We got used to such treatment and never at one time thought that our rights (what were children's rights at that time - they were gathering dust in the United Nations books) were being infringed on. Later, when I was in Standard Eight, my English teacher decided that using the cane was a thing of the past and instead resorted to using his fists and legs. He would get into the classroom (the sight of him would send chills of terror down our spines) and we would stand in unison. Our greeting to him would reverberate throughout the block: "Good morning Mr. Mbugua." He would look at us as if we had insulted him and, with the ferocity of a bull, he would come towards us. For no reason at all, he would rain blow after blow on our puny forms (especially around our stomachs) and no one would dare cry out for fear of stoking his latent fury, all that in the name of corporal punishment. In retrospect, that was terrorism! I doubt even that some of the corporal punishment we received was intended to correct behavior. More likely it was an outlet for the teacher's pent up heartaches on us young, innocent and undeserving pupils. Fast forward to the present. Most of those dubious forms of corporal punishment have died out or at least been diminished, thanks to Human Rights activism. Prominent cases of a teacher punching and kicking a student are few and far between. The carrying of canes, let alone the use of them, in schools is not allowed. This is a trend that is catching on in Africa. Sometimes however, you find some teachers carrying 'small canes' (literally folding them to fit in their coat pockets) for emergency use, as some are heard to say. Circumstances for such 'emergencies' are as ambiguous as is the word "emergency" itself. Although there is the status quo that teachers in Africa are trying to come to terms with, we still hear of some isolated cases of teachers 'beating to the point of death', 'injuring', or even killing students. The 'crimes' that warrant such outbursts range from not respecting the teacher (rudeness), or failure to attempt assignment to an untoward brush with the teacher. The Nyeri incident sometime ago where a pupil collapsed after being punished, speaks volumes of the state of affairs. I don't think that those were just 'some' inconsequential strokes on the backside. There must have been some brutality somewhere somehow. I know of one case where a teacher was so irked by a student that, in a stroke of 'genius', he reached for his leather belt and let out his steam on the student. Unfortunately, the metallic buckle hit the student on the head with such a force that the next thing the teacher knew was the student reeling and falling to the ground, head first. He was rushed to hospital and was pronounced dead on arrival. Although banning corporal punishment is not a cure-all, it sure will save our children from a great deal of emotional trauma and fear. (I found out that a big percentage of the fear I had, emanated from the crude forms of punishment I received when I was in school!). This ban will also help mould students and pupils who can think for themselves (by this I mean that there is no coercion used to initiate decisions).
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I went to a boarding school, in the late nineties, where the teachers beat the living daylights out of us. While we were beaten to discipline, we developed a fear of our teachers.
Like Griffin above, I am convinced that there are proper ways in which we can discipline our children.
Although as we grow older we got tougher, it was hardly because of discipline, more out of fear. Teachers really have no right to abuse children in this fashion.
A high school child is old enough to know right from wrong. In that regard, he/she is old enough to be given punishment that will have consequences on her/his academic career or social one.