by Matthew Farley Every schoolteacher, parent or person standing in the place of a parent is justified in using force by way of correction toward a pupil or child...if the force does not exceed what is reasonable under the circumstances. (Canadian Criminal Code 1. Section 43) LAST SUNDAY SUN carried an article on corporal punishment which included certain statements attributed to the Honourable Ronald Jones, Minister of Education and Human Resource Development. According to the article, Mr Jones advocated that "society should eliminate that form of discipline altogether". The implications of this suggestion must be clearly understood by all Barbadians. The Education Act, Cap. 41, of the Laws of Barbados gives the principal/headteacher the responsibility to administer corporal punishment and to delegate that duty to senior teachers. There was a time in our context when every classroom teacher administered corporal punishment. Currently, any teacher, outside of the principal and senior teacher, who flogs a student in any public school in Barbados is committing a criminal act, however lofty he or she might perceive his or her intentions to be with respect to the correction of behaviour. If the ban is ever extended to include ALL classroom practitioners, including principals, our country which still prides itself for its otherwise very good educational system, would have effectively criminalise the entire teaching force. But what is the global perspective on this issue? The fact is that 27 states in the United States have outlawed corporal punishment in schools while 24 allow its use for corrective purposes and under specified conditions. But the American school system especially in those states where corporal punishment is outlawed, is in total shambles. The removal of both the rod and God out of American schools has rendered them virtually unmanageable. Across the Atlantic most schools have followed suit in banning the practice. In order to beat the system, however, many schools opt out of the state system in order to maintain some measure of control. In South Africa where corporal punishment was recently banned, Mike Hagenann who is a Christian in a state school, notes that many of the problems experienced in United States ten to 20 years ago are starting to surface. He notes that "academic standards are declining and students are getting more and more uncontrollable as the humanists have stripped teachers of virtually all their authority". One of the agencies that continues to fuel this anti-corporal punishment agenda is the United Nations (UN) with its charter on The Rights Of The Child. It is interesting to note that even its agenda has been challenged. In 1991, Canada ratified the United Nations Convention On The Rights Of The Child, Article 19. This mandates the protection of children from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse. The UN Committee On The Rights Of The Child recommended that physical punishment of children in schools and families be prohibited and Section 43 (as cited above) be removed. International covenants recognise the integrity of the family unit and indicate that parents have the primary responsibility for the upbringing and the development of the child. The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) agenda is "to nag" all the countries in the world to abolish corporal punishment. This position by the UN committee has never been tested in a court of law or put to the vote by any democractic body. The fact is that the UN has no legal machinery to enforce its own codes neither is it binding on any sovereign country to adhere rigidly to its dictates (see www.nospank.net). In reality, although many countries have legislated against corporal punishment, most of the near 190 parties to the Convention On The Rights Of The Child have not. Barbados needs, therefore, to be guided by its Constitution, which takes precedence over any charters, and must assert itself as a sovereign state that has the right to determine its own destiny. The situation that now faces British schools where corporal punishment was abolished in 1986 is instructive. According to Lynette Burrows, hundreds of thousands of qualified teachers left the profession as discipline plummeted and their ability to teach anything became impossible. As a result, the overwhelmingly female members of the profession who have opted to stay struggle ineffectually to contain outrageous behaviour. They are insulted and victimised by pupils in a way that makes the term "sexual harassment" seem coined for another age. Behaviour that would not be tolerated outside the classroom has become the norm in many schools. "Violence, obscenity, threats, outbursts of aggression, vandalism and theft," have escalated. In essence, the school, far from being a place where civilised values are taught and enforced, has become a training ground for thugs and potential criminals. In conclusion, if Mr. Jones abolishes corporal punishment in Barbadian schools, not only would he have opted for all of the above which are already present in our schools, but he would have presided over the destruction of the social aspects of the soul of Barbadian education. All that is required is for us to specify in the act what instruments are to be used, the conditions under which corporal punishment should take place, and the limits to the discretion of those charged with the responsibility.
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