Perils of harsh punishments

Teacher caning a student. PHOTOS | FILE

What you need to know:

  • But the psychological and physical impact caused by the punishments on the students hasn’t been largely part of the debate.
  • Considering the fact that a person grows both physically and mentally over time, this is worth to talk about.

Subjecting students to harsh punishments has been one of the most controversial issues to have largely been discussed in Tanzania in recent years.

But the psychological and physical impact caused by the punishments on the students hasn’t been largely part of the debate.

Considering the fact that a person grows both physically and mentally over time, this is worth to talk about.

Punishing students, with let’s say caning them and using any other physical means; has a lot of implications and educational specialists have come out to question whether it should be left to continue or not.

That said, today I want to dwell on the impact that the harsh punishments leave on students and how this goes on to affect their academic wellbeing.

Here, I call upon both educational specialists and parents to ask critical questions. Let’s face it, these students usually feel inferior when they are subjected to beatings and this creates a sense of fear in them.

Despite of the advantages that may be assumed to come with the provision of such harsh treatments to students in schools, I do believe these advantages are outweighed by the problems that come with it.

Such punishments make them disobedient instead. The punishments have been making students become ‘chronics.’

They continue misbehaving despite being beaten up and automatically they lose confidence towards achieving some educational goals.

Despite the associated effects, still, there are many people who still believe that students can be shaped through such punishments.

But, how about this? When societies should instead be constantly teaching their children how to use their time and money effectively?

Here, both parents and teachers need to put in place suitable rules and guidelines that can help students to control their daily routine progress.

Psychologically, the child grows in the manner that their caregiver governs them to follow the prepared steps in life.

Always, children will walk the steps that their caregiver directs them to get through. Yet, this will depend on how parents and teachers insist them to behave by showing a bad or good example.

For instance, when parents arrange the timetable for their children daily and provide a keen supervision, students ought to follow its steps in regard to the presence of directives

Rebuke student’s bad behaviors and inspire them to do better ones. Always parents and teachers need to hold their tongues and help to build their children with the psychology of listening and doing, understanding and implementing.

This simple psychological building helps them to sort what bad behaviors they come into contact and avoid following them, yet build the behavior of implementing anything having understood its grounds.

Example telling students words like, “You are a good boy, keep doing better”, “Look at what your fellow has done and do alike”, “Work hard and you will achieve higher scores”, and other words, such words instantly sink into the student’s minds and build them psychologically.

Therefore, both parents and teachers, instead of scolding and beating their children, let’s just give them ample time to think of how they have fallen into the mistakes.