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In 2005 – 2006, CRAF did a study on corporal punishment in schools in Andhra Pradesh.

595 children of different ages and from different types of schools, both girls and boys, were interviewed. The researchers thought it might be diffcult for the children to talk about corporal punishment when they were at school, so they were mostly intereviewed at home.

80 teachers, 109 parents, 63 members of school management and 77 others, which included resource persons, NGO functionaries, educationists, and representatives of child rights advocacy forums of respective towns/cities were also interviewed.

The children were asked these questions:

1. Generally, what are the types of punishments given to children by the teachers in the schools?
2. What kinds of children are given punishments and for what reasons (context, age and sex of the child, type of school, and variation by sex of teachers)?
3. What are the physical and psychological consequences of these punishments to the students?
4. How should teachers be if they were to teach without giving punishments to children?
5. How should children be if they were to be taught without punishments?
6. How should parents be if the children were not to be punished in the schools?
7. How should management be to prevent punishments to children at schools?

Results:

Here are some of the things that the researchers found out from what the children and adults said:

Corporal punishment of children by teachers in the urban schools surveyed, and by parents in the home was widespread. The types of punishments given to children in schools show clear violation of their fundamental rights to respect for their human dignity and physical integrity. Punishments such as hitting on palms with cane, making them kneel down, slapping, or pinching – are some such examples.

Only 3.5 percent of the children who were punished told the school authorities about their experience. The reasons mentioned were: fear of retaliation from the teacher, and lack of specific mechanisms to receive complaints from children.

Children are punished more in schools than in homes and boys are punished more than girls either in schools or in homes. Younger children were punished more as compared to older ones.

Children from poorer backgrounds are are more at risk of being punished than other categories of children, and they are often punished for reasons that are mostly poverty-related which they can’t change. (For example, not wearing uniform or not paying their school fees).

Corporal punishment hurts mentally and physically. Children said it made them dislike the teacher or the person being punished, or feel ashamed. Corporal punishment also resulted in injuries, swelling, bleeding, breathlessness, headache, fever, fractures, fits and convulsions and so on.

Children said teachers should ‘teach well, understand child’s feelings, show love and affection, and act like a guide and philosopher to the child’. They also suggested changing the school curriculum, avoiding discrimination on the basis of academic performance, being sensitive students’ backgrounds, and encouraging feedback from students.

Children said that parents should be ‘supportive, friendly and understand child’s feelings’.

Read the whole study:

1. Contents.
2. Summary.
3. Chapters 1 and 2: Background and Method.
4. Chapter 3: Results.
5. Chapter 4: Conclusions.

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