Punishing pupils for bad behaviour with humiliation or by
administering corporal punishment only aggravates disciplinary problems
at schools, a new research paper has suggested.
What was required at schools was an approach to discipline which
considered the personal circumstances and needs of children, a senior
social work lecturer at the University of the Free State, Roelf Reyneke,
argued in his paper.
The work, published in the latest issue of the Perspectives in
Education Journal, explained that children brought the social ills they
were exposed to in their communities into their classrooms.
Harsh punishment was “toxic” to children who had experienced
rejection and abuse – leading to more disciplinary problems, ranging
from tardiness to assault.
The usual methods of disciplining children included giving them extra
schoolwork, detention, taking away privileges, humiliation, having them
do menial tasks, and administering corporal punishment (even though
this has been outlawed).
Data released by Statistics South Africa last month showed that 13.5%
of pupils in South Africa still endured corporal punishment, and it was
most prevalent in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
“A punitive approach to discipline is not what is needed in the
present day. Punishing children for misbehaviour is not the best way to
teach them to be responsible …A punitive approach actually aggravates
disciplinary problems,” the research paper argues.
“Punishment is seen as an acceptable part of discipline, but it
should be the last resort … To discipline a child is not per se to
punish the child, as so many adults would like to think.”
Reyneke explained: “To give detention to a child who damaged property
is not necessarily going to teach him or her to respect the property of
others.
“If the child has to fix what was damaged and experience working to
get the necessary money to pay for the repairs, it is much more logical
and teaches that bad behaviour has consequences. Illogical punishment
will only fuel the anger of troubled youth and make them more
uncontrollable.”
Punishment, Reyneke contended, would only temporarily suppress
negative behaviour in troubled youths, and add to the stress of children
dealing with trauma.
A punitive response created fear and mistrust, and did not teach
appropriate life skills such as assertiveness, negotiation and problem
solving.
Reyneke said it was crucial to create a caring and safe environment,
where children could express their pain. Children felt “disconnected”
from school when punished, and that disconnection increased drop-out
rates and contributed to truancy and substance abuse.
A restorative approach to discipline was less adversarial, with a
focus on who was affected by the misconduct, what the needs of the
victim and the wrongdoer were, and how the wrongdoer was going to make
things right. The main difference between the two paradigms was that the
restorative approach focused on trying to identify why the child needed
to misbehave, through dialogue and healing.
The Mercury
No comments:
Post a Comment