THIS is concerning that children are still routinely subjected to corporal punishment and there is absence of an enabling environment for child development. On the first-ever International Day of Play observed on June 13, UNICEF published a study, estimating that about 330 million children regularly endure psychological aggression or physical punishment at home. The study also observe that children across classes are growing up with an alarming fear of punishment, both at home and in educational institutions. In 2019, a survey by the Bureau of Statistics and UNICEF reported that 89 per cent of children experienced violent discipline. Meanwhile, 35 per cent of parents or caregivers express that corporal punishment was necessary to discipline children. The findings are shocking but consistent with the media reports on child victims of corporal punishment. What is worrying is an apparent acceptance of corporal punishment by teachers and parents as a means of disciplining children.
Corporal punishment continues despite government and non-government awareness programmes on child safety and violence prevention. In 2023, the youth and sports ministry under a programme reached 4.5 million parents nationwide. The education policy also emphasises the adverse impact of corporal punishment on the mental and physical health of children and bans it, but the policy hardly appears enforced. The education ministry banned corporal punishment in educational institutions in 2011 while the High Court that year declared corporal punishment in schools and madrassahs 鈥榗ruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and a clear violation of a child鈥檚 fundamental right to life, dignity, liberty, and freedom.鈥� And yet, it continues. Educationalists say that an improper implementation of relevant laws and a tacit approval of the use of corporal punishment by most parents have helped the practice of corporal punishment to perpetuate. Children are also subjected to verbal abuse and bullying at home, in school or at work. In 2018, a Class IX student of Viquarunnisa School and College in Dhaka committed suicide allegedly after school authorities summoned her guardians and scolded her for adopting unfair means in annual examinations.
The government, as a signatory to the United Nations Convention for Child Rights, must take the issue of corporal punishment and children鈥檚 well-being more seriously and ensure that teachers directly involved in such acts are held accountable. It must take adequate measures, put a mechanism in place and effectively enforce relevant laws to end this practice in educational institutions. The teacher training curriculum must adequately address the issue so that teachers are aware of the impact of physical punishment or psychological abuse for purposes of discipline on child development. Parents and teachers must understand counter-productive effects of corporal punishment.
