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Articles...
IS CORPORAL PUNISHMENT STILL IN USE IN SCHOOLS?
Friday, April 8, 2011
I paid a visit to a colleague teacher this afternoon at the A.M.E. Zion Schools at Mamprobi and in almost all the classrooms that I passed by, as in all basic and most Senior Highs there was one or two canes on the table of a teacher, or the teacher was holding a cane while teaching.
Very often, one could hear a child be beaten in one class or another. I tried to find out from my colleague if they were still using the cane in their school and the quick answer she gave me was ‘as for this children, ... (To continue reading, download the PDF)
Friday, April 8, 2011
I paid a visit to a colleague teacher this afternoon at the A.M.E. Zion Schools at Mamprobi and in almost all the classrooms that I passed by, as in all basic and most Senior Highs there was one or two canes on the table of a teacher, or the teacher was holding a cane while teaching.
Very often, one could hear a child be beaten in one class or another. I tried to find out from my colleague if they were still using the cane in their school and the quick answer she gave me was ‘as for this children, ... (To continue reading, download the PDF)
Will the Domestic Violence Law halt domestic violence?
Daily Graphic (Tuesday, May8, 2007)
As a nation, have we finally arrived at a solution to domestic violence? Will wife battering be something of the past? Are child and mature adult battering in the name of discipline not violence?
I do not presume that I have discovered the final answer to one of the most divisive issues in parenting and on violence, but I do think that I have uncovered some truths, or at least some nagging questions, that deserve to be reckoned with if as a nation we really want to end all forms of violence ...(To continue reading, download this PDF)
Daily Graphic (Tuesday, May8, 2007)
As a nation, have we finally arrived at a solution to domestic violence? Will wife battering be something of the past? Are child and mature adult battering in the name of discipline not violence?
I do not presume that I have discovered the final answer to one of the most divisive issues in parenting and on violence, but I do think that I have uncovered some truths, or at least some nagging questions, that deserve to be reckoned with if as a nation we really want to end all forms of violence ...(To continue reading, download this PDF)
The Time to Outlaw Corporal Punishment is NOW!
Why is violence among our youth on the increase in our communities and in our educational institutions? Why can’t our future leaders communicate their ideas, feelings and grievances without resulting to violence as a tool of redress?
I do not presume to think that I have discovered the final answer to one of the most divisive issues in parenting, but I do think that I have uncovered some truths, or at least some nagging questions, that deserve to be... (To continue reading, download this PDF)
Why is violence among our youth on the increase in our communities and in our educational institutions? Why can’t our future leaders communicate their ideas, feelings and grievances without resulting to violence as a tool of redress?
I do not presume to think that I have discovered the final answer to one of the most divisive issues in parenting, but I do think that I have uncovered some truths, or at least some nagging questions, that deserve to be... (To continue reading, download this PDF)
Caning – Official child abuse in schools
My daughter in Kindergarten has just arrived from school with bruises on her arm and back. Her offence was she went to drop a piece of paper in the dustbin without seeking the teacher’s permission so the teacher caned her.
I have personally spoken to this lady teacher and asked her not to cane our daughter because our family does not believe that school children be disciplined by spanking; better put caning. We believe that it sends ... (To continue reading, download this PDF)
My daughter in Kindergarten has just arrived from school with bruises on her arm and back. Her offence was she went to drop a piece of paper in the dustbin without seeking the teacher’s permission so the teacher caned her.
I have personally spoken to this lady teacher and asked her not to cane our daughter because our family does not believe that school children be disciplined by spanking; better put caning. We believe that it sends ... (To continue reading, download this PDF)
THE SAD EXPERIENCE OF A PARENT
There is a story told of a scene that took place in a school around the countryside in Ghana. There was a man walking around a school and he saw a teacher caning some students who happened to be late from break. He walked to the teacher and enquired: Man: Sir, what is the matter with your children? Teacher: They are late from break. Man: Couldn’t you have found any other punishment other than hitting them with that stick?... (To continue reading, download this PDF)
There is a story told of a scene that took place in a school around the countryside in Ghana. There was a man walking around a school and he saw a teacher caning some students who happened to be late from break. He walked to the teacher and enquired: Man: Sir, what is the matter with your children? Teacher: They are late from break. Man: Couldn’t you have found any other punishment other than hitting them with that stick?... (To continue reading, download this PDF)
What lessons do children learn from caning or beating?
The child learns:
• To fear the adult that he/she is supposed to bond with. This is because in most cases the adult instil fear in the child by thinking that with that fear the child might not repeat the same thing. Gradually that individual becomes a source of permanent fear before the child and he grows never to love that individual.
• To distrust the adult who is supposed to be... (To continue reading, download this PDF)
The child learns:
• To fear the adult that he/she is supposed to bond with. This is because in most cases the adult instil fear in the child by thinking that with that fear the child might not repeat the same thing. Gradually that individual becomes a source of permanent fear before the child and he grows never to love that individual.
• To distrust the adult who is supposed to be... (To continue reading, download this PDF)
Why the increase in youth violence in our society?
Is it a breakdown in laws or societal failure? After a deep thought on the indiscipline among our youth and in some of our schools and the larger society, it has become abundantly clear to me that it's not our children in schools across our dear nation who are in most urgent need of discipline and re–education on disciplinary matters, but many of their teachers, educational policy makers and the larger society. It would not be far from the truth to argue that our children in schools are not to be... (To continue reading, download this PDF)
Is it a breakdown in laws or societal failure? After a deep thought on the indiscipline among our youth and in some of our schools and the larger society, it has become abundantly clear to me that it's not our children in schools across our dear nation who are in most urgent need of discipline and re–education on disciplinary matters, but many of their teachers, educational policy makers and the larger society. It would not be far from the truth to argue that our children in schools are not to be... (To continue reading, download this PDF)
The Effect of School Spanking
“Corporal punishment of children actually interferes with the process of leaning and with their optimal development as socially responsible adults. We feel it is important for public health workers, teachers and others concerned with the emotion and physical health of children and youth to support the adoption of alternative methods for the achievement of... (To continue reading, download this PDF)
“Corporal punishment of children actually interferes with the process of leaning and with their optimal development as socially responsible adults. We feel it is important for public health workers, teachers and others concerned with the emotion and physical health of children and youth to support the adoption of alternative methods for the achievement of... (To continue reading, download this PDF)
The Child and the School
A disciplinarian is one who helps a child develop self discipline, who counsel and advices rather than tries to get even. Getting even is what most discipline seems to do in school. Real discipline teaches children what their action does to others and to themselves and helps them to correct it appropriately without any fear or threats of punishment. In an attempt to correct the so called “bad behaviour” of children, particularly children in school, first identify the cause of the behaviour. This is because... (To continue reading, download this PDF)
A disciplinarian is one who helps a child develop self discipline, who counsel and advices rather than tries to get even. Getting even is what most discipline seems to do in school. Real discipline teaches children what their action does to others and to themselves and helps them to correct it appropriately without any fear or threats of punishment. In an attempt to correct the so called “bad behaviour” of children, particularly children in school, first identify the cause of the behaviour. This is because... (To continue reading, download this PDF)
Some reasons why we must learn alternatives to Corporal Punishment
The attractive alternative to discipline by punishment is the employment of strategies that lead children to focus on the actual standards that their educators and parents are trying to communicate rather than on the disciplinary means by which the educators and parents enforce these standards. Punishment as a tool of discipline is a very ineffective method of discipline; for punishment, strangely enough, often has the effect of teaching the child to behave in exactly the opposite way from ... (To continue reading, download this PDF)
The attractive alternative to discipline by punishment is the employment of strategies that lead children to focus on the actual standards that their educators and parents are trying to communicate rather than on the disciplinary means by which the educators and parents enforce these standards. Punishment as a tool of discipline is a very ineffective method of discipline; for punishment, strangely enough, often has the effect of teaching the child to behave in exactly the opposite way from ... (To continue reading, download this PDF)
Fighting Domestic Violence, Are we on the right path or Losing the Battle?
When lawmakers claim they want to address the problem of domestic violence, that is spousal battering, but remain silent about the high rate of violence across our educational system, one wonders if they can really be taken serious. Educator violence, which is canning of school children by teachers, is not new with us and even most of our lawmakers might have experienced this in one way or the other at the hand of their educators or they might have had ... (To continue reading, download this PDF)
When lawmakers claim they want to address the problem of domestic violence, that is spousal battering, but remain silent about the high rate of violence across our educational system, one wonders if they can really be taken serious. Educator violence, which is canning of school children by teachers, is not new with us and even most of our lawmakers might have experienced this in one way or the other at the hand of their educators or they might have had ... (To continue reading, download this PDF)
Checking indiscipline and non-performance in schools
• Is corporal punishment or out-right dismissal the solution?
Today one cannot pick up a news paper or switch on the TV without being reminded that we are in a world dominated by violence. This is the reality of our time; one cannot run away from it.
It does not mean that there is no hope for the future. There is, but that depends on how one handles the situation of the day and what one makes ... (To continue reading, download this PDF)
• Is corporal punishment or out-right dismissal the solution?
Today one cannot pick up a news paper or switch on the TV without being reminded that we are in a world dominated by violence. This is the reality of our time; one cannot run away from it.
It does not mean that there is no hope for the future. There is, but that depends on how one handles the situation of the day and what one makes ... (To continue reading, download this PDF)
As a Teacher and a Parent (Full text)
As a teacher and a parent, I am at a lost as to why people would go to any length to justify violence against children who happen to be the weakest of our offspring and argue against its use against women because it is violence. What shock me the most are their attacks on people who represent the voice of these young voiceless, defenseless and vulnerable children. The saddest thing about this is when these people call themselves CHRISTIANS forgetting that the one they claim to belong to was a strong human right advocate to the peril of his life. As for my colleague teachers who for one reason or the other are champions of the continuity of a failed system which has never worked and had not being part of our training, I feel ashamed and hope they take time to research into effective teaching methods which do not encourage classroom violence. The only conclusion I can come to is that “because they themselves have been abused and they have not seen it as such so they must carry on the old tradition”.
As a teacher and a parent, I am at a lost as to why people would go to any length to justify violence against children who happen to be the weakest of our offspring and argue against its use against women because it is violence. What shock me the most are their attacks on people who represent the voice of these young voiceless, defenseless and vulnerable children. The saddest thing about this is when these people call themselves CHRISTIANS forgetting that the one they claim to belong to was a strong human right advocate to the peril of his life. As for my colleague teachers who for one reason or the other are champions of the continuity of a failed system which has never worked and had not being part of our training, I feel ashamed and hope they take time to research into effective teaching methods which do not encourage classroom violence. The only conclusion I can come to is that “because they themselves have been abused and they have not seen it as such so they must carry on the old tradition”.
