Topic : Corporal
Punishment On Children
Central
Idea :
Corporal punishment on children should not be accepted and
the alternative to corporal punishment.
the alternative to corporal punishment.
Main
Points:
i.
Corporal punishment on children is an
inhuman act.
ii.
Corporal punishment is not effective in
teaching children.
iii.
Corporal punishment does have an
alternative in teaching children.
Introduction
1.
Attention
Getter:
I want you to imagine yourself in a primary school
classroom. It’s Malay language class and the teacher walks in with a pile of
books with folded pages. “Bang!” She puts the books on the table and looks at
the whole class. “Monitor, go get my cane at the office.” and the classroom
breaks out into whispers. Your name was called because your homework had some
problems. You were given two hits of the cane and you get back to your seat,
saddened or even angered.
2.
Reveal
Topic:
Today, I would like to tell you how corporal
punishment on children should not be accepted and the alternative to corporal
punishment.
3.
Credibility
Statement:
I have an aunt who has three kids and is a part time
teacher in Sweden while I had experience as a substitute teacher in a primary
school. We had discussed about how corporal punishment on children is accepted
in Malaysia but it is banned in Sweden. After that, I also searched online to
know more about corporal punishment.
4.
Relevancy
Statement:
We are from the 90’s generation, we grew up during the
time corporal punishment children is accepted, and for some parents, even encouraged.
But I believe a change is needed as we progress into a mature country. I think
that this topic is important to us since we may become educators, or become parents
ourselves in the years to come.
5.
Preview:
I shall explain about corporal punishment on children
being an inhuman act, corporal punishment is not effective in teaching children
and lastly, corporal punishment does have an alternative in teaching children.
Connective: We
will now start with how corporal punishment on children is actually an inhuman
act.
Body
I.
Corporal
punishment on children is an inhuman act.
Corporal punishment is illegal internationally. According
to the UNICEF Malaysia article, Lessons in Violence Nurture Shame and More
Violence for Children, published on the 6th of October 2008, “UNICEF believes
that corporal punishment should be abolished because it is both abusive and ineffective.
It also infringes on the right to education. The United Nations Convention on
the Rights of the Child prohibits the use of cruel, inhuman, or degrading
treatment, regardless of circumstance.” Times are changing, globalization is
happening as clear as ever, the boundries between countries is becoming less
visible when it comes to working together to a better world. Malaysia should
start changing for the better, to evolve into a mature country where the basic
human rights, even a child’s, should be respected. Within this context, I
believe corporal punishment on chilren should
not be practice or be culturally accepted. Stopping corporal punishment on
children is the path to a mature society. On the 26th of December 2011, Pro / Con: Spanking
under Los Angeles Times website written by Jessica Pauline Ogilvie, mentioned
that 31 countries have banned corporal punishment in the home and although USA
does not have such a ban, 32 of its states have laws that prevents educators
from hitting students.
There is no limit when it comes to the negative effects
due to corporal punishment on children. Corporal punishment may cause
unintended injuries to the child. Corporal punishment is used when the parent
or educator is in a heightened levels of anger and stress.The child may suffer serious
or long term injuries that were never intended. In The Star Online, Mother
Claims Daughter Deeply Traumatised After Caning, by Nigel Edgar on the 26th
of February 2013, a 10 year old girl cried when she was asked to show the
cane marks on her right hand during the interview with the reporters about the
caning by the school principal. Corporal punishment will cause children to be
hurt emotionally. Children may be stereotyped as a “bad child” or “bad student”
when they are given corporal punishment, especially in public. But have you
consider that the child might not be bad in the first place? Maybe it was just
a one time thing? The child may feel ashamed in front of his or her classmates
because of rumors being spread about them.
Connective: Next,
I’ll share with you about the ineffectiveness of corporal punishment in teaching
children.
II.
Corporal
punishment is not effective in teaching children.
Children may not understand the actual reason for
corporal punishment. Corporal punishment by parents is not the way to teach a
child how to behave. John Wenzel from The Denver Post, wrote in Corporal
Punishment Not Effective Long-term, Experts Say on 15th of September
2014, when children are disciplined, violence can bring short-term results; but
new studies showed that the best steps in disciplining children do not involve
physical abuse. Corporal punishment by educators is not the way to teach a
child to be a good student in school. The child may follow school rules only because
he or she is afraid of the punishments by the educators. When the teachers or
educators are not around, the students may still break the school rules. Do you
still remember you as a student, talking and making noise in class when the
teacher is not around? Students finish and hand in their schoolwork because the
teacher told them to. They have lost the drive or motivation to learn and enjoy
schooling due to corporal punishment. The students do not understand the
reasons of having school rules and following them. There is always the saying
“rules are meant to be broken”. Students do not know of the logic of having
school rules. Students should not run in the school hallways. This is to
prevent them from injuring themselves as well as knocking into others.
Mental development of the children may be negatively
affected due to corporal punishment. Corporal punishment, whether done in the
home or school, causes negative effect on children’s IQ development, as written
in the Summary of Research on The Effects of Corporal Punishment by the Global
Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children in April 2013. The long
term effects include children may not be as successful academically and career
wise as the children who are not given corporal punishment. Corporal punishment
also supresses children’s creativity. Children are supressed from speaking up
or sharing ideas in classs because of the fear of being wrong and getting
punishment.
Connective:
Lastly, I shall tell you that corporal punishment does have an alternative in
teaching children.
III.
Corporal
punishment does have an alternative in teaching children.
Actions that can be done by people who are directly
involved in corporal punishment. Actions parents can do. Parents should
remember to not take the easy way out when dealing with children. Without
corporal punishment, parents may need more time in educating their children,
especially for children who are so called hard headed or playful. They need to be
more patient. Parents should find a way to guide children to know and understand
what is right and what is wrong. One of the ways is to do what you preach.
Parents can be an example for their children. Actions educators can do. Educators
may need to spend more time in educating children with discipline or academic
problems. They can choose to talk to the student to find out the root of the
problem. If it is because of a small reason, the teacher can slowly guide the
student. If it is a serious problem, the educator can ask help from the school
counselor. An additional class can be set up for students who are slow in
academic progress.
Actions that can be done by organizations. Actions
that can be done by the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development. Campaigns
such as “Educate, don´t punish” that was started by Save the Children, UNICEF’s
Spanish Committee and a few other organizations can be used in Malaysia. According
to Educate, Don´t Punish, Awareness Campaign Against Corporal Punishment of
Children in Families in October 1999 by Save The Children and a few other organizations,
the campaign aims to raise awareness among parents and future parents of the
effects of corporal punishment, provide guide to non-violent ways of teaching
children and introducing children to their rights. Actions that can be done by
the Ministry of Education. The number of students in a class should be
downsized. That way, educators can focus more on each student. Corporal
punishment is not needed when you have sufficient time for each student. The
ministry should make sure there are enough educators and school counselors in
each school.
Conclusion
Review
of Main Points:
Reviewing what was mentioned just now, I have talked
about corporal punishment on children being an inhuman act, corporal punishment
is not effective in teaching children as well as the alternative to corporal
punishment.
Restate
Thesis:
Corporal punishment on children should not be
culturally accepted since there is always an alternative.
Closure:
Corporal punishment on children has been used in our
society for years, from our grandparents, to our parents, to ourselves. It is
not easy to ask everyone to change drastically and take action immediately. By
giving this speech, I hope that everyone here, the young generation, the future
leaders, can understand how important it is to stop corporal punishment and
take the next step in heading towards the path of a first-world country.
Bibliography
Online
Newspaper Article:
Ogilvie, J.P.
(2011, December 26). Pro / Con:
Spanking. Los Angeles Times. Retrienved from
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/dec/26/health/la-he-spanking-pro-con-20111226
Edgar, N. (2013, February
26). Mother Claims Daughter Deeply Traumatised After Caning. The Star Online. Retrieved from http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Community/2013/02/26/Mother-claims-daughter-deeply-traumatised-after-caning/
Wenzel, J. (2014,
September 15). Corporal Punishment Not Effective Long-term, Experts Say. The Denver Post. Retrieved from http://www.denverpost.com/lifestyles/ci_26538968/corporal-punishment-not-effective-long-term-experts-say
Online Article:
UNICEF
Malaysia. (2008, October 06). Lessons in Violence Nurture Shame and
More Violence for Children. UNICEF Malaysia. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/malaysia/protection_9199.html
Global Initiative to End
All Corporal Punishment of Children. (2013, April). Summary
of Research on The Effects of Corporal Punishment. Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children. Retrieved from http://www.endcorporalpunishment.org/pages/pdfs/Summary%20of%20research%20on%20the%20effects%20of%20corporal%20punishment%20April%202013.pdf
Save the Children, UNICEF, CEAPA, CONCAPA. (1999,
October). Educate, Don´t Punish, Awareness Campaign Against Corporal Punishment
of Children in Families. Save the
Children. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/lac/spbarbados/Implementation/CP/Global/Educate_donthit_SaveManual.pdf
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