VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN
From the list of stressors, I have selected ‘Violence’
or rather 'Violence against children' for my deliberation. 'Violence against children' includes neglect
to infants, corporal punishment, sexual, psychological and emotional abuse of
children, malnutrition of children, and employment of underage children. I will
concentrate more on Corporal Punishment. Berger (2018) has defined Corporal punishment as punishment that physically hurts the body such as slapping, spanking, etc. (p. 297)
I had been a victim of corporal punishment. In my elementary
classes whenever I missed homework, the teacher used to put a pencil between my
two fingers and press the fingers with a pencil in between. Striking with a
cane stick or a ruler on the palm of boys and girls was a common practice. It
was very painful to go through these punishments. In those years, I hated
school, I hated books, and I hated teachers. When I complained to my mother,
she said that the teacher has a right to punish you when you do something
wrong. My mother always repeated a proverb, 'Spare the rod, spoil the child’.
Those were horrible days! It was my
father who came to my rescue. He understood my woe and convinced my mother that
these corporal punishments are harmful to a child's education. Consequently, my
school was changed, and I took a sigh of relief. But memories of those days
still haunt me. These corporal punishments in schools were not only
painful but also embarrassing. It took me several years to come out of this
trauma.
In Pakistan, though, there are laws forbidding
corporal punishment in schools, but incidents of teachers inflicting physical
punishment on students keep on emerging. And then there are thousands of madrasas (religious schools) which follow
their own system and where corporal punishment is a norm. In the US, class discipline is maintained either by 'timeout' or by 'induction of parent in behavior correction of children'. (Berger, 2018)
Corporal punishment is not the only stressor which
children in Pakistan face. There are many others, such as infant mortality,
malnutrition, war, transport accidents, and environmental pollution.
Most of the children
start their lives with malnutrition and starvation. They face parents' neglect
in their childhood. The infant mortality rate in Pakistan is 60 per 1000, while
it is six deaths per 1000 in the US. Forty-four percent of children are stunted.
Stunting is a term used for children that are below standard height and weight
for their age. This stunting is almost always due to inadequate food intake
starting as early as a few months after birth.
Fifty percent of Pakistani children do not go to any school. They work
in workshops and factories. The travel on top of the buses or cling to its
sides. It is a common sight to see an entire family, including a few children,
being carried on a motorcycle.
But it is not only Pakistan that is facing 'Violence
against children.' World Health Organization (WHO) has indicated in its report
of June 2019 that up to 1 billion children aged 2–17 years globally have
experienced physical, sexual, or emotional violence or neglect in the past
year.
Berger (2018) in the textbook has included Violence in its definition of Maltreatment.
"Thus, child maltreatment includes both child
abuse, which is a deliberate action that is harmful to a child's physical,
emotional, or sexual well-being, and child neglect, which is a failure to meet
essential needs." (p.
242)
She adds: "About three times as many neglect
cases occur in the United States as abuse cases, a ratio probably found in many
other nations."
According to Berger (2018), reported maltreatment
cases in the US ranges from about 2.7 million to 3.6 million per year.
References
Berger, K, S, (2018). The
developing person through childhood (8th ed.). New York, NY: Worth
Publishers.
Violence against children-United Nation Secretary
General’s study. Retrieved from
https://www.unicef.org/violencestudy/profileindia.html
Actin against hunger-Pakistan. (2019). Retrieved from
https://www.actionagainsthunger.org/countries/asia/pakistan
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry that you had to face such difficulties. Thankfully times have changed and corporal punishment is banned in schools in most places. However, I know that it is still prominent in other countries. As you mentioned yourself, these kinds of punishments can have a negative influence on a developing child. Schools are suppose to be a child's "safe place" and for many it is. However, when you add corporal punishment to the mix you can get a sense of resentment towards the school and it can lead to the child being unmotivated to learn out of fear of being prosecuted. Also, as you mentioned malnutrition is a form of abuse. The number of cases worldwide of child abuse is much too grand. There needs to be a significant change. #BreakTheSilence
Hi Tasneem,
ReplyDeleteI can remember vividly, my grandmother often telling me about how when she was at Catholic school, the nuns would dole out punishment when they saw fit, and how they saw fit. It terrifies me to know that something so archaic still exists in the world. Heather was right above when she mentioned that schools should be a safe place for children. I grew up knowing many children where school was the only safe place for them because the hours they were there, meant that they were safe from an abusive family. If you take that away from them and make school an unsafe space, a child may not have any other place to call their safe space. Which could end tragically in the longrun.
Wow! I am very impressed by your post. Thanks for taking the time to share your views and knowledge on childhood violence.
ReplyDeleteHi Tasneem
ReplyDeleteYou chose an interesting topic on violence against young children. I remember having a neighbor that would get drunk and beat her children and put them outside. The girl would be beaten so bad until she would throw-up. I felt really bad for her so my cousin and I would go over and sit with her until he mom would let her back in the house. I hated that this would happen but we were children ourselves we did what we could to comfort her. Great Post!
Hi Tansneem,
ReplyDeletegreat post. I have also been a victim of corporal punishment. I feel this kind of punishment can be harsh. I have experience getting hit with a ruler on the hand and being hit by a wooden paddle on my bottom. Corporal punishment can affect a child tremendously.
Hi Tansneem,
ReplyDeleteWhile reading through your post, I was so saddened by how blind I am to the rest of the world. I know that corporal punishment is still a very real thing, I just didn't think I'd ever know of someone who's dealt with it. I commend your strength in dealing with that most likely unbearable trauma. Thank you for sharing.
Lea Ann