A report form the UN has shown that Schoolchildren are exposed to more physical harm from teachers than from other children.
The Unicef End Violence In School report which was released on Tuesday last week claimed that children in secondary and primary schools are harmed more through caning and bullying by teachers than by from fellow students.
The report shows nearly 720 million students are at risk in schools, where caning is not fully prohibited. Another half of the world’s teens experience peer violence in and around school. One in three students aged 13–15 are bullied.
Despite records of bullying and harassment by peers, the report shows younger children are punished more often. In addition to physical punishment, other cruel forms of punishment include actions that belittle, threaten, scare or ridicule a child.
Caning was banned in 2001 after the Children’s Act took effect in a gazette notice dated March 13, 2001. “The repercussions of violence can become imprinted on a child’s body and mind in the form of physical injury, sexually transmitted infections, anxiety, suicidal thoughts and unplanned pregnancy,” the report says.
Corporal punishment, despite it being touted, even at home, rarely makes children obedient or diligent. Research has shown that talking to them and motivating them to work hard while dissuading them from picking up bad habits works better.