Some parents, albeit not all have gotten a sigh of relief after Pakistan’s National Assembly, had passed a historic bill banning corporal punishments for children, but the bill applies to federal territory only. The surge in high profile cases of children that have begun with badly beating up students in schools, mistreatment of kids in religious seminaries, and physical abuse of child laborer at workplaces are flaring up as a new breeding ground of punishments that often leads to the killing of voiceless children. Social media is swamped with disturbing footage of many incidents, but the latest of a household help being physically abused in the hands of her employer to an eight-year-old boy was beaten to death by clergy for not memorizing a lesson in a religious school.
Inhumane punishments have a negative imprint left on child’s willingness to attend school and slash their academic performance by more than half. In Pakistan, corporal punishment is a major hindrance for children between the ages of 5, and 16 not attending a school that alone constitutes 44 percent of out-of-school children. In addition to other challenges students facing physical assault have poor learning outcomes, links corporal punishment to arising mental health problems, and abnormal behavioral changes that are the cause of violent tendencies in adulthood. Further evidence suggests that corporal punishment in childhood is the strongest reason for early age depression, pessimism, and develop hostility towards society that increases vulnerability to radicalization in adulthood.
In the absence of robust legislation at the provincial level, and the failure of their governments to amend existing laws following the scenario, the issues remain unaddressed. Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) colonial-era Section 89 deals with the physical assault inflicted on a child by parents, or guardian for his/her benefit, remain valid in the provinces despite Islamabad High Court suspending its use in the capital. This section equips parents, guardians, and teachers with the power to employ the use of corporal punishment for disciplining a child under the age of 12. Also, the prevalence of misusing this law is not only confined to schools, but poor children working at informal workplaces are inflicted physical punishment due to the afore-mentioned section.
Pakistan is in the of the list of 69 countries, including 19 states of the US legally permitting corporal punishment in schools, as part of the conventional pedagogical method to discipline students by holding them accountable for their naive actions and make them do their work, perhaps for a better future. Despite the UN’s commitment to declaring corporal punishment a form of violence against the children, teachers continue to employ the tactics for their ease. However, Islamabad has taken its first step towards reaffirming its commitment to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in 1990 bypassing a bill that bans all types of corporal punishment at formal, and informal workplaces, and in various educational settings. The effective implementation of laws is yet another challenging task for the government, while the proponent of anti-corporal punishment believes that laws in Pakistan are merely for book readings, with zero implementation.
In the presence of abundant evidence, suggesting a negative impact on children’s physical, and mental health corporal punishment remains prevalent in Pakistan’s private, and public schools. Amongst the four provinces, Sindh was the first to legislate laws on corporal punishment in 2017, however, the effort remained futile owing to the ineffective implementation of the laws. Whereas the most populated, and largest of all provinces, Punjab employs 89 percent of physical punishment in public, and private schools, a study found in 2012 has no formal laws to criminalize those inflicting cruel punishment on students. Until Federal legislation was passed, the state had no measures to lawfully intervene in situations of violence. Still, the rest of the country has no draft bill ready to follow in the same footsteps, since the 18th amendment has devolved certain subjects to the provinces, laws on corporal punishment, and child protection are solely legislated by the provinces. Despite the presence of corporal punishment laws on books, the teachers continue to breach laws, and the cases go unreported by parents because childhood punishments are not seen as harmful but have become a part of our cultural norms. These unfortunate incidents serve as a stark reality of our government’s failure to afford constitutional protection to our children.
Amongst the four provinces, Sindh was the first to legislate laws on corporal punishment in 2017, however, the effort remained futile owing to the ineffective implementation of the laws. Whereas the most populated, and largest of all provinces, Punjab employs 89 percent of physical punishment in public, and private schools, a study found in 2012 has no formal laws to criminalize those inflicting cruel punishment on students.
Of course, legislation may not suffice alone to address the growing issue of corporal punishment. There is a lack of awareness among the teacher, who are unaware of the detrimental effects corporal punishment could have on one’s mental health. Hence, it’s the need of the hour to introduce alternative methods of teaching, ways to maintain discipline students, and produce quality work from them. Some phycological studies have suggested that pedagogues, who have bitter experiences of being subjected to corporal punishment in their childhood, are the ones practicing it with the next generation. Besides enacting legislation, initiatives must be taken to change the perception about corporal punishment among educators through interactive training, and the sending out a positive message of learning without punishment to break the decades-old cultural norm of the South-Asian society, we inherited.
Beyond introducing legal reforms, Pakistan needs to disseminate literature on school sanctions, and how educators should deal with behavioral changes, discipline issues, and punishment in the school, which serves as alternates to corporal punishment as followed by the developed world. Additionally, to reinforce positive, and expecting good behavior from the students, the schools should seek the support of the phycologist and the counseling department that provide emotional support and identify to work on the root cause of the increased aggressiveness, anxiety, and depression found in the students. In cases, when ignoring indiscipline is impossible that could have a negative impact then punishment should be used sparingly and must be coupled with explanation to acquaint parents, and their children for reasons of their punishments. These steps toward positive reinforcement, as opposed to cruel punishment, will encourage students to depict good behavior.
