Description

Spare the rod blah blah blah. In this episode we delve into the debate on corporal punishment and whether schools should abandon it. The debate reignited nationally after news reports of two children - one 12-years-old and the other 8-years-old - having been left with injuries far more severe than ought to have been inflicted, after beatings meted out to them by teachers in separate incidents, in separate schools.

Unsurprisingly, there was a public outcry at the sight of photos of swollen purple skin and blood drawn. The issue attracted the input of the Education Minister, Daryll Matthew, who declared that he thinks corporal punishment ought not to be used in schools. Even the Prime Minister, Gaston Browne has weighed in, expressing disapproval of its continued use. A principal, Foster Roberts added his thoughts, arguing in favour of keeping it.

In fact, many are in favour of keeping corporal punishment in schools. Their arguments are essentially that it is quick and effective, and that educators have very limited measures at their disposal for disciplining students in an environment often short-staffed and under-resourced, and with children whose socialization in the home has not inclined them to be responsive to dialogue and other punishments. It is also routinely argued that if correctly, or properly done, beatings won't leave the recipient bleeding or severely bruised. Another refrain is that it should only ever be a last resort. 

Conversely, abolitionists argue that corporal punishment is degrading, humiliating and traumatizing - something we should wish to avoid doing to our children. Additionally, anecdotal accounts suggests that even in schools, it may end up being used for slight offences, or as a group punishment. Is that fair? The Ministry of Education does set standards to regulate beatings. And still, sometimes the blows that take-off do so with too much fuel, or fail to stay on the designated flight path. 

Abolitionists also argue that we in Antigua and Barbuda have a cultural love affair with beating which we need to break-up with - one born of a history of treating human beings like chattel, and of lacking respect for human dignity (just look at our prison). And what about beating at home? Should we abolish corporal punishment in the home? Surely, it is at home, away from the public's eyes, that the worst abuse through beatings occurs. Yet the law gives parents and guardians the right to beat, without any hope of regulating how they do so. We discuss all this and more in this episode.

The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guests are:

1. Jacintha Pringle, an English Language and English Literature teacher at the St. Joseph's Academy. She is a former Director of Education in Antigua and Barbuda, having occupied the position between 2005 and 2015.  
2. Dr. Chinwe Ezeokoli-Ashraph is joining us from Trinidad and Tobago. She’s a medical doctor in her final year of psychiatry residency at the University of the West Indies (UWI). She works in a public child and adolescent psychiatry outpatient clinic.
3. Colin John-Jenkins, an architect by profession who is joining us to share his views as a parent.

This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on June 6th, 2021. Get the latest news from Antigua and Barbuda at the Antigua Observer online. Illustration credit: Clovis, Jamaica Observer, November 30, 2017.