The impact of physical discipline on children

COVER STORY

Although it took place a fairly long time ago, yet I still remember the grim incident clearly. We were in the middle of an Urdu lesson at elementary school. The female pupil – I shall call her A – seated right in front of me whispered something into the ear of her ‘friend’ next to her. The friend, without wasting a second, disclosed her words to the entire classroom. Apparently, A had made fun of the teacher. Seething with anger, the teacher halted the lesson, and then proceeded to drag A to the front of the classroom, all the while thumping her vigorously on the head and face with a notebook. The horrendous scene continued for a good five minutes (although it seemed like an hour), as the rest of the class watched, frozen in terror. I was not particularly good friends with A – as a matter of fact I had barely ever spoken to her – but in that moment, I felt absolutely terrible for her. She was merely a child of ten years and had been subjected to the humiliation of a lifetime. The trauma of this public beating in front of her peers is likely to remain with A for life. Surely her offence could have been dealt with in a better way?

Humans do not simply forget and move on from traumatic events that take place during childhood, although they might be forcefully suppressed in the victim’s mind. What happens is that often the suffering rears its head later in life, sometimes with devastating consequences. If we look into the history of troubled individuals who go on to commit atrocities, we will frequently discover that they were raised in an environment where they were neglected and abused. While most beaten children will not grow up to be serial killers, the agony leaves an adverse imprint on their personality and behaviour, manifesting in undesirable traits and thought patterns, which remains with them for life, unless therapy is sought.

According to the World Health Organization website, “Corporal or physical punishment is highly prevalent globally, both in homes and schools. Around 60% of children aged 2-14 years regularly suffer physical punishment by their parents or other caregivers. In some countries, almost all students report being physically punished by school staff.”

It is commonly assumed that not physically disciplining a child when necessary will prove to be damaging and disadvantageous to his development. I firmly believe that a child should be raised in such a manner that even a disapproving look from a parent (or any adult) should be enough for him to acknowledge that a boundary has been crossed.

Thankfully, there are ways that a child might be disciplined where his health, self-respect, and dignity remain intact, and he doesn’t carry trauma into his future. Time-outs (where the child is removed from the situation to calm down and reflect), confiscation of gadgets and toys, loss of privileges and grounding are some examples of methods that can be implemented to tackle disobedience. These are non-violent disciplinary models that are known to discourage and reduce problematic behaviour. On the other hand, beating a child often makes him stubborn, rebellious, and after a point, proves ineffective. In fact, good evidence suggests that physical punishment does not decrease defiant or aggressive behaviour. According to the World Health Organization website, “Corporal punishment triggers harmful psychological and physiological responses. Children not only experience pain, sadness, fear, anger, shame, and guilt, but feeling threatened also leads to physiological stress and the activation of neural pathways that support dealing with danger. Children who have been physically punished tend to exhibit high hormonal reactivity to stress, overloaded biological systems, including the nervous, cardiovascular, and nutritional systems and changes in brain structure and function” Furthermore an article titled ‘Physical discipline is harmful and ineffective’ on the American Psychological Association website states: “Research finds that hitting children does not teach them about responsibility, conscience development, and self-control.” In the same article, Elizabeth Gershoff, PhD, an expert on the effects of corporal punishment on children says that "Hitting children does not teach them right from wrong," and that “children do not need pain to learn.”

Physically abusing a child – even if the intention is to discipline – strips him of his dignity. This indignity is multiplied if carried out in front of an audience. Consequently, the child begins to harbour anger and resentment. The shame and loss of self-respect in being violently mishandled manifests itself in damaging ways in the future. Researcher Kristel Ala, in her article ‘What does the evidence tell us about physical punishment of children?’, writes, “The adverse impacts from physical punishment from childhood may last into adulthood. Harsh physical punishment (smacking, shoving, and pushing) has been linked to anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and antisocial behaviours in adulthood.”

A child, who grows up in a safe and stable environment, where he is patiently taught right from wrong and disciplined in a non-violent manner, has a higher likelihood of turning into a well-rounded and productive adult. Studies say positive home environments are good for the cognitive development of children, who often go on to excel academically. Anne B. Smith, in her extensive article ‘The state of research on the effects of physical punishment’, says, “Poorer cognitive outcomes may result if parents who physically punish their children make less use of inductive methods of discipline, such as explanation and reasoning – procedures that are likely to enhance cognitive growth. It may also be that children who are anxious about being physically punished are inhibited from exploring their physical and social worlds, and therefore less likely to extend their cognitive skills”.

Today, in most private educational institutes, it is against the teacher’s code of conduct to physically discipline students, but this may not be the case for government run institutes. Teachers must not physically punish students in the class but instead be obliged to alert the principal and parents and employ alternative disciplinary measures. Disrespectful students must absolutely face consequences for their actions, more especially if continued despite warning, but beating in front of peers is brutal, uncivilized, and counter-productive. According to Kristel Ala in her article ‘What does the evidence tell us about physical punishment of children?’, “A systematic review of 53 studies on the use of physical punishment in schools found that it had negative effects on the academic performance of children and resulted in behavioural issues (e.g. violent behaviour and aggressive conduct).” In the same article, Ala mentions a meta-analysis of 160,000 children which found that physical punishment might have the following negative outcomes for children: mental health and emotional challenges, lower cognitive ability, lower self-esteem, more aggression, more antisocial behaviour, and negative relationships with parents. The researcher also stresses how the suffering from physical abuse can negatively affect brain development.

Every parent must strive to inculcate good character traits and fine manners in their offspring, but this is a process that must start very early – right from when the child begins to display signs of comprehension. After all, it is said that the first school for a child is his mother’s lap. Therefore, parents must spend a significant amount of time with their young ones, focusing exclusively on their upbringing, patiently teaching them right from wrong while instilling in them excellent morals, ethics, and behaviour – all without ever having to lay a finger on them.