Dear Editor,

Jamaica Teachers’ Association President, Clayton Hall’s endorsement of corporal punishment as an effective and necessary tool in disciplining Jamaica’s schoolchildren is as much reckless as it is illogical.

Contrary to popular belief, corporal punishment never stopped in Jamaica, whether in schools or at home. Children and adults alike are routinely tormented and physically abused in the name of instilling discipline. The result is that, despite an abundance of disciplinary measures, Jamaica is still one of the most violent, aggressive, and indisciplined societies one can find. One doesn’t have to stretch the imagination very far to conclude that our penchant for physical violence, and intimidation is a significant contributory factor to our high levels of violent crime.

Far too many Jamaican parents have no idea what they are doing, and instead of recognising the importance of teaching moments, they instead resort to the base cultural instinct to batter and bruise. The only lesson this teaches is “don’t let me catch you doing this again”. Implicit in this message is the validity of violence as an appropriate response to displeasure and this is something that is programmed into young minds from early on.

Have you ever seen a little girl ‘discipline’ her dollies? We may look on in amusement, but quite obviously this displays how far we have missed the point about instilling core values and positively influencing the development of good characters in our children. How many more teens need to have their throats cut by their classmates for us to realise that we are indo instinctively ctrinating our children to react with violence to any sort of grievance? When are we going to make the connection between this and our seemingly uncontrollable violent crime?

Hall’s position is representative of support for the cycle of violence we have created as a nation that we are now seeking divine intervention to stop.

Brian-Paul Welsh

brianpaul.welsh@gmail.com