The schools in Bhutan have banned corporal punishment-but I doubt whether this will do any good to our students and the nation at large. Though I hated and dreaded corporal punishment when I was a student, later I realized that reasonable level of corporal punishment was a saving grace for me: it kept me grounded, and molded me into a responsible person. More than anything, it made me to learn what I was supposed to learn as a student.
I really feel fortunate and thankful that my teachers and parents beat me; had it not been for their kind and compassionate beating I would have gone astray. So, through my personal experience, I am not really a supporter of "ban of corporal punishment in schools" A certain degree of corporal punishment is very necessary in schools until students attain the age of reasoning and contemplation.
During my school days ,whenever there was a class test, I studied really hard not because I wanted to secure best results in the tests but because I feared my teacher would beat me if I did not do well. That positive fear instilled in me value of hard work which later culminated into taking good personal responsibility. This forced learning also helped me to discover my intellectual potential as youth.
When I was in my teens I didn't steal fruits from neighbor’s farm not because I knew it was wrong to take "what is not given or what is not yours" but because I feared my father would beat me if he knew I was a thief. Later as I grew older I knew it was fundamentally wrong to steal.
These two important lessons in my life-taking personal responsibility of hard work and being truthful- I learnt from my teachers and my parents who used to beat me if my actions were not deemed fit for a good student or a good son. Though I resented my teachers and parents for punishing me, the resentment withered away as I came to the age of reasoning. Today as I reflect back on the actions of my teachers I am filled with gratitude to them for disciplining me and forcing me to learn my lessons properly.
Today, I have become a firm believer that our teachers and parents punish our kids not because they want to inflict pain on them and make them unhappy, but to instill in them some fear, which is necessary for youth, to make them learn their lessons for their own good. Actions of our teachers and parents are because of their immense love for our children: they want our children to grow up to be a responsible and useful citizen for our society.
Therefore, we should not altogether ban corporal punishment in schools simply because schools in the western world have done it-lets have the courage to be different for the sake of our children and for our country. Some sense of fear of punishment is necessary to make our students learn their lessons and to discipline them: the answer to this is corporal punishment. However, teachers and parents should know the degree of corporal punishment, and when to apply it.
Lastly I thank my teachers and parent for punishing me with rods and whips when I did wrong as a student. I hated you then, but now I love you all for you care and kindness.
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