END THE PRACTICE!

SOCIAL activist George Griffith is appealing to authorities to put a stop to corporal punishment in schools.

Furthermore, the former head of the Barbados Family Planning Association wants parents to quit flogging their children at home too.

According to Griffith, who has publicly voiced his concerns on the topic before, flogging is an ineffective method of disciplining children, noting that the time has come for Barbadians to employ alternative methods to put their children on the right path.

“I do not believe any teacher in Barbados, should want to accept the responsibility of flogging other people’s children. A time is going to come in this country, when it would not be permitted anymore.

“But I am hoping that between now and then, you do not get a battery of lawyers, willing to take headmasters and senior teachers before the law courts,” Griffith said.

“Some of us would not flog our dogs, you can’t flog animals, you can’t flog confined prisoners, but you are going to flog children. Children have no voting power so there are no consequences. I am appealing to us to have a heart. I am really saddened about this,” he added.

Speaking during a town hall meeting, at the St. Barnabas Church hall, on Wednesday evening, to discuss the role of teachers and parents in raising the nation’s children, Griffith, who worked at the Government Industrial School, as a social worker, told the gathering that he often encountered overwhelmed parents who admitted that they flogged their children because they were angry, and frustrated, with the struggles and battles they faced in life.

Griffith made the point that flogging was used by slave masters, indicating that, “I get very angry because we are perpetuating a practice which has nothing to do with the development of our children.”

“The point is, this is the 21st century Barbados and we are experienced as a people and we are creative that we can find other ways and means to discipline our children.
“If we establish a good relationship with our children, you won’t have to resort to [corporal punishment]. I know there are people in Barbados who believe that is the thing to do, and I understand that and I do not condemn them for it.

“I am now appealing to them, to recognise that it is a short cut to nowhere. At the end of the flogging, the child is angry, the parent is frustrated, and feels guilty and the problems are still there,” Griffith said.

During the meeting, several parents, including a panellist, stated their views as it relates to flogging children. Some agreed with Griffith that corporal punishment is not a short cut to effective discipline, while a few took another stance.

However, one teacher who was amongst the audience spoke about the issues teachers across the education system were dealing with, in regards to dealing with children disrupting class, and displaying unruly behaviour.

In an emotional tone, the teacher spoke about the need to find effective ways to deal with those types of students, alluding to the fact that she believes, some teachers see corporal punishment as the only way out to disciplining an unruly student.

Meanwhile, head of the Barbados National Council of Parent Teacher Associations (BNCPTA), Shone Gibbs, who was also a panellist, said he believes that once special attention is paid, especially to at risk students, there would be no need for corporal punishment.

Gibbs suggested that parents, teachers and policy makers in the education system, must establish alternative ways, to avoid flogging children.
“Let us see how we can avoid that point through counselling and constantly working with that child,” Gibbs said. (AH)