Shiva Ram Paudel
Students become subject to punishment for various reasons. Mostly, students are punished in the name of disciplining them either in or out of the school. Beside discipline, other reasons for punishment can be weak academic achievement, delay for class, not paying attention during the teaching learning process, bad dressing style, unable to do home assignment, fighting in class, disagreement with teacher, bad mouthing, breaching school regulations etc. Many teachers and guardians believe that punishment works.
Punishing children does not always give good result. The issue of corporal punishment in schools should not be overlooked because it may cause some worse results in the life of students in future. It does not stop being personal to a child only rather it is associated with family and society. Every stakeholder has to consider impacts of CP on children and opt for its alternatives.
The 3Cs are;
Counseling
Guidance and counseling is an important educational strategy in shaping the orientation of child. It is an act of giving advice and support to the people to help them deal with problems and make important decisions. To be more specific is a professional guidance of the individual by utilizing psychological methods. Counseling in the field of education is important and essential to overcome psychological and habitual hazards. It is a sustainable method of molding behaviors. It needs rigorous and steady efforts in order to gain some positive changes.
Children are by nature restless, curious and stubborn. We cannot deny their psychological traits. Knowing all these things counseling is carried out. It means a counselor has to know the background, age, level and interest and tendency of counselee. If the students are found doing unwanted activities they must be treated through counseling not by punishing. It may take time to show the result of psychological counseling but when it is done it is long lasting.
Competition
Competition is an act of struggling to become better than the rivalry ones. encounter raises a kind of self-responsiveness. It acts as reinforcement. Moreover, it causes subject to learn or to increase the frequency of desired response. Healthy competition can be a strategy to motivate learners. A good teacher promotes healthy competition in classroom instead applying physical punishment.
Mostly, students are punished either in the name of disciplining them or because of poor academic result. Such brutal act of punishing innocent children can be substituted by encouraging competition among students of same class. A teacher is someone who does not merely teach also tells students how to learn. Making autonomous learners is the ultimate goal of teaching. A sense of competition among students can enhance autonomy in learning. When it takes little effort to change why worry a lot.
Communication
Communication here refers to the interaction that takes place between teacher and students, teachers and guardians, and among teachers. It is teacher’s duty to make sure that the students are learning at school and it is guardian’s duty to ensure that children are following what teachers say at home. When punishment occurs due to undesired activity of learners, it can be monitored and handled efficiently form collective effort of teachers and guardians. A good relation with students also reduces chances of frequency of misbehaviors. Students should feel like they are being monitored by both teachers and parents. A teacher can make regular interaction with guardians of so called problematic students. Teacher should play role to raise confidence in students.
Corporal punishment to children is the most neglected issue in our country. Very few researches are done in Nepal about corporal punishment. It needs due attention and psychological research that could analyze all the aspects associated with Punishment. Now it has become too late to take action. Every teacher and guardian has to opt alternatives for physical punishment. Counseling, competition, communication can be the best ways for molding children’s behaviors.
