Beating sense into children?

Beating sense into children?

“Spanking is simply another form of terrorism. It teaches the victims that might makes right, and that problems can be solved through the use of violence by the strong against the weak.” – Anonymous

I thought that Inter-national Children’s Day was commemorated in Guyana on June 1, but somehow it seemed to have slipped under the radar. Or maybe because I am boning up for my last two CAPEs later this week, I didn’t notice?
I did notice, however that Minister of Education Priya Manickchand (an old Queens girl, I point out modestly!) has been touring Berbice – and is scheduled to do the same in other locales – to canvass the general climate on corporal punishment.
Rather alarmingly, it appears that the general view of the folks in the “Ancient County” is in favour of ‘beating sense’ into the (presumably) hard heads of children. Since I suspect this might be the view also held in my part of the country, I have taken an interest in this matter – even though Biology and Maths are calling.
I would like to suggest to my distinguished alumni Ms Manickhand to please check what people who have studied the effects of beating of children have to say. The days of superstition, while probably useful in ages when scientific studies were not available and quick evaluative shortcuts might have been necessary, should be brought to an end.
But even the ancients were not all in favour of the pernicious “spare the rod and spoil the child” doctrine. The Roman orator Quintilian (circa 35-95 CE) would have written the following around the same time as the Gospel of Mark – he had a contrary view.
I quote from him rather extensively, in case my own juvenile view might be tossed aside as that of a callow youth. He expresses my position rather aptly:
“I disapprove of flogging, although it is the regular custom… because in the first place it is a disgraceful form of punishment and fit only for slaves, and is in any case an insult, as you will realise if you imagine its infliction at a later age.
“Secondly if a boy is so insensible to instruction that reproof is useless, he will, like the worst type of slave, merely become hardened to blows… And though you may compel a child with blows, what are you to do with him when he is a young man no longer amenable to such threats and confronted with tasks of far greater difficulty?
“Moreover when children are beaten, pain or fear frequently has results of which it is not pleasant to speak and which are likely subsequently to be a source of shame, a shame which unnerves and depresses the mind and leads the child to shun and loathe the light…. I will not linger on this subject; it is more than enough if I have made my meaning clear. I will content myself with saying that children are helpless and easily victimised, and that therefore no one should be given unlimited power over them.”
Finally a modern, scientific view from Alvin Poussaint, MD, Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School: “Researchers have also found that children who are spanked show higher rates of aggression and delinquency in childhood than those who were not spanked. As adults, they are more prone to depression, feelings of alienation, use of violence toward a spouse, and lower economic and professional achievement. None of this is what we want for our children.”