‘Corporal punishment adversely affects children’s productive minds’

OST Bureau

Bhubaneswar, Sept-21:

School and Mass Education secretary Usha Padhee on Saturday laid emphasis on proper understanding of child psychology and denounced all forms of corporal punishments by parents and teachers.

Speaking at a state-level consultation workshop on positive parenting and nonviolent discipline in school situation, Padhee said,contrary to what many parents and teachers believe, children should not be subjected to violent punishment in order to discipline them,

“Corporal punishment adversely affects children’s productive minds instead of making them disciplined. The best way to deal with them is to understand their psychology and sort out their issues accordingly,” Padhee said.

The workshop was organised here on Saturday by the National Centre for Child Rights (NCCR), a unit of the People’s Cultural Centre (PECUC).

Suggesting alternative methods to discipline students in place of punishment, NCCR Chairman Ranjan Kumar Mohanty observed that due to heavy pressure and fear of corporal punishment by both teachers and parents, a large number of children in rural areas are dropping out of schools and finally getting engaged as labourers.