Corporal punishments should be outlaw in Nigeria. beating a child will not make a child change is ways when he grows up. There are other ways of discipling a child other than flogging

Nihilist: Corporal Punishment is barbaric and needs to be stopped.

Africans seem to confuse fear with respect.

Flogging a child forces him to fear the parent and not necessarily respect him.

I never EVER hit my own little boy

I want him to consciously understand what is wrong and avoid doing it for the fact that it is wrong, and not avoid wrongdoing for the fear of violence.

I am actually more obedient to my father than to my mother because he never hit me. The pain of his disappointment is the ultimate deterrent. What a child will eventually learn about physical punishment is that it is TEMPORARY.

I remember the day I made a conscious decision to do something wrong because, hey I'll just suffer the beating until it's over, but at least I got to do this thing. Now I'm too old for beatings and what did I learn from them? How to dodge.

Kross911: I support u sir. But k ids of these day are so intelligent that they take advantage of the love lavished on them by their parent,knowing fully well that their ever loving parent will not spank/beat them(common in rich families) this I guess will lead if not checked to a more societal moral decay than we've seen already.

spot on, sir. Thank you...

[size=14pt]Lagos State Government bans flogging of students and apprentices.[/size]

DGI-PLUS:
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=52597:bravo-to-lagos-over-childrens-rights&catid=67:you-report-lagos&Itemid=583

THANKS to the recent legislation passed in Lagos State by the administration of Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN, the caning, beating or physical torture of school students, and of workplace apprentices, has been outlawed entirely, and declared both illegal and criminally culpable throughout that state. This recognition accorded the basic human rights of Lagos State’s children, by Governor Fashola, is, without question, one of the most constructive, progressive and profoundly humanitarian initiatives ever set forth into law by any Nigerian elected leader, since the nation’s 1960 independence.

A simple internet search yields an abundance of thoroughly documented medical evidence, which unambiguously links the “punitive” beating of human beings to very severe and permanently debilitating injuries that range from blindness-inducing eye damage, to life-long paralysis of the legs, possible from SINGLE blunt-force cane impacts to the sciatic nerve, which runs close to the spine in the lower back, just beneath the skin. A research paper recently published by the Department of Ophthalmology, at the College of Health Sciences in Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife, cited a four-year study which concluded that an astonishing 30.3% of all eye injuries, presented at that hospital alone, by children aged between 5 and 15 years old, were DIRECTLY attributed to caning or whipping attacks that went horribly wrong, either in schools or at home.

From a purely medical standpoint, there is NO safe area of the human body suitable for assault with a stick or other blunt-force weapon. Just as easily as a cane-strike to the lower back carries the potential to inflict lifetime lower limb paralysis on the victim, an errant stick, whip or belt-buckle impact to the wrist is equally liable to fracture, deform or displace the delicate wrist carpal bones that articulate within very tight tolerances, thus degrading forever the wrist’s flexibility and range of motion. Caning the hands of a student, such that permanent bone injury and loss of flexibility to the hands results, would effectively END whatever aspirations the victim may have held of becoming a surgeon later in life. The disastrous effects of losing one’s sight or mobility to a caning incident would be no less life-destroying, and require no elaboration.

The injurious psychological effects, of exposing children to physical brutality in the name of discipline, can last a lifetime, but do also manifest behaviorally in the short term, as illustrated by the extremely high prevalence of school-yard bullying of juniors by senior students, whose own corporal punishment and physical torture by school authority figures imparts a misconception of normalcy to the use of violence as a tool to gain “respect” and the illusion of compliance. In nearby Ghana, by way of comparison, where all forms of corporal punishment have been outlawed for decades, school-yard bullying is virtually non-existent, while a very high level of orderliness and discipline is maintained in Ghanaian secondary schools, without any recourse to violence by school authorities. Unsurprisingly, the Ghanaian education system remains one of the best in Africa today, producing highly proficient graduates who are in great demand globally.

Governor Fashola’s administration has boldly righted a festering injustice that has for decades been perpetrated against Nigerian children enrolled in schools nationwide, as well as in places of trade apprenticeship. Once again, Governor Fashola lives up to his billing as a leader far ahead of his time, now by endorsing the imperative to safeguard the BASIC human rights of Nigeria’s most important citizens – her children. For the betterment of Nigerian youth enrolled in schools and workplaces across the entire federation, the stellar, inspirational example just set by Governor Fashola is one well worthy of emulation, as it stands to swiftly transform Nigeria’s primary and secondary educational systems for the infinitely better.

Striking any adult person with a stick or other weapon constitutes a violent criminal offence statutorily classified as Felony Assault and Battery, for which jail sentences can be imposed after a fair trial, under Nigerian law. On the unassailable premise that schools exist to prepare students for life as productive, civilized and peaceful citizens of law-abiding societies, that fundamental prohibition of violence against adults must be extended to govern all conduct towards children within schools and workplaces throughout any nation that embraces human rights for human beings of every age demographic.

https://www.nairaland.com/708677/lagos-state-outlaws-flogging-students

MissMeiya:

I am actually more obedient to my father than to my mother because he never hit me. The pain of his disappointment is the ultimate deterrent. What a child will eventually learn about physical punishment is that it is TEMPORARY.

I remember the day I made a conscious decision to do something wrong because, hey I'll just suffer the beating until it's over, but at least I got to do this thing. Now I'm too old for beatings and what did I learn from them? How to dodge.

Parenting is the most difficult task on earth, and beating a child is a sign of a frustrated parent / other adult whose reasonable judgement has failed.

Children can be reasoned with, but you can't start trying to reason with a child when his/her viewpoints on life are already starting to set. The parent's frustration will be less, and success rate will be higher, if they start reasoning with the children from the very earliest possible stages of infancy.

I put it to you that one reason "African parents" usually have to enforce their stance by beating their children is that they are not always sincere with their children, and they usually do not hold themselves to the same standards that they require of the children. These children observe all of this, and they make their own decisions. In frustration, the parent then resorts to beating them.

If one is always sincere with a child, and shows genuine respect for him/her, the child will often grow up making better choices.

I see parents that beat their children in no better light than people that beat their spouses. In fact, it is worse for the child because as minors they have few or no options to retaliate.

My mother (of blessed memory) only ever beat me a couple of times - but I was already about 10 and that could have been avoided with earlier instruction. My father never beat me. I have no children, neither am I married. But I know if I eventually have children I will neither beat them nor allow anyone else to beat them.

Nihilist:

You will find that the boy over-reacted to the extreme brutality of his dad's brand of 'punishment'

His dad beat him with his fists and with a spatula, and BIT him with his teeth...

So please spare us the BS. Thanks.

Well he should have done all the brutality when he was a child not in his adulthood.

Redeem member.

Nihilist:
I want him to consciously understand what is wrong and avoid doing it for the fact that it is wrong, and not avoid wrongdoing for the fear of violence.

Very well said.

InesQor:

Parenting is the most difficult task on earth, and beating a child is a sign of a frustrated parent / other adult whose reasonable judgement has failed.

Children can be reasoned with, but you can't start trying to reason with a child when his/her viewpoints on life are already starting to set. The parent's frustration will be less, and success rate will be higher, if they start reasoning with the children from the very earliest possible stages of infancy.

I put it to you that one reason "African parents" usually have to enforce their stance by beating their children is that they are not always sincere with their children, and they usually do not hold themselves to the same standards that they require of the children. These children observe all of this, and they make their own decisions. In frustration, the parent then resorts to beating them.

If one is always sincere with a child, and shows genuine respect for him/her, the child will often grow up making better choices.

I see parents that beat their children in no better light than people that beat their spouses. In fact, it is worse for the child because as minors they have few or no options to retaliate.

My mother (of blessed memory) only ever beat me a couple of times - but I was already about 10 and that could have been avoided with earlier instruction. My father never beat me. I have no children, neither am I married. But I know if I eventually have children I will neither beat them nor allow anyone else to beat them.

+100

Virtue lies in the middle. Punishment should be equal to the offence. Dont kill a fly with a sledge hammer or you end up creating a bitter- wicked child. On the other hand if you dont correct(may involve some punishment) your child for wrong doing you will form a wayward child. Spare the road and spoil the child.

Nihilist: Corporal Punishment is barbaric and needs to be stopped.

Africans seem to confuse fear with respect.

Flogging a child forces him to fear the parent and not necessarily respect him.

I never EVER hit my own little boy

I want him to consciously understand what is wrong and avoid doing it for the fact that it is wrong, and not avoid wrongdoing for the fear of violence.

I disagree with you. Appropriate violence is necessary and can be a very effective way of communicating moral laws to a child especially at a young age have not yet developed the capacity to reason morally.

At such an age, it is important for them to associate right with pleasure and wrong with pain. As they get older and their capacity to reason increases, then the flogging can reduce. There is nothing barbaric about flogging an erring child in order to correct him/her.

MrAnony1:
I disagree with you. Appropriate violence is necessary and can be a very effective way of communicating moral laws to a child especially at a young age have not yet developed the capacity to reason morally.

At such an age, it is important for them to associate right with pleasure and wrong with pain. As they get older and their capacity to reason increases, then the flogging can reduce. There is nothing barbaric about flogging an erring child in order to correct him/her.

I completely agree.

I truly fear for children being brought up by today's emotion-driven parents. They end up terribly manipulative with an oversized sense of entitlement and zero discipline.

InesQor:
Parenting is the most difficult task on earth, and beating a child is a sign of a frustrated parent / other adult whose reasonable judgement has failed.

Not necessarily.

Children can be reasoned with, but you can't start trying to reason with a child when his/her viewpoints on life are already starting to set. The parent's frustration will be less, and success rate will be higher, if they start reasoning with the children from the very earliest possible stages of infancy.

It would be interesting to hear exactly how you intend to go about reasoning with an infant. Please kindly educate me - using practical instances where possible - on how to reason with children from the earliest stages of infancy so that they develop the right moral character.

We dont need to ask a question when the answer is glaring.

Check out western societies where corporal punishment is seen as abuse. All they do is ground children and ask them to serve detention.

High crime rate, drug abuse, divorce, gang violence, no respect for parents/authorities, teenage pregnancies etc

On the other hand the bible says parents should not be exasperating their children with excessive punishment.

In my humble submission, corporal punishment is good but should be done with love and in moderation adding reasoning with the child, withdrawal of some pleasures and loving counselling. Flogging and caning should be done in moderation as well as a good correction.

Extreme torture, abuse, permanent scarring and neglect is wrong. Just balance things out.

My parents disciplined me well and i came out the better for it.

To all those brainwashed africans out there who keep trying to import/assimilate western culture totally, I say wake up and beware of the consequences.

Flogging isn't the key.
As those of us who attended real 'African' schools and not those butter and milk schools would attest to the fact.
I learnt how to 'shine' cane barely two weeks after entering secondary school. After a while,we numb our bodies to the pain of beating. I'm a big advocate of mild punishments like sit on the air ,pick pin.. and so on.. Also mix it with detention and grounding. Believe me,when a child knows he won't watch t.v,have a certain dish,or even spend 30 minutes suspended in an uncomfortable position his brain will configure itself to the right settings. Also getting them to read a book and explain it to you works...
Thats all for now.
Warning-If you quote me and type any nonsense,you will run mad!

jossi994: Flogging isn't the key.
As those of us who attended real 'African' schools and not those butter and milk schools would attest to the fact.
I learnt how to 'shine' cane barely two weeks after entering secondary school. After a while,we numb our bodies to the pain of beating. I'm a big advocate of mild punishments like sit on the air ,pick pin.. and so on.. Also mix it with detention and grounding. Believe me,when a child knows he won't watch t.v,have a certain dish,or even spend 30 minutes suspended in an uncomfortable position his brain will configure itself to the right settings. Also getting them to read a book and explain it to you works...
Thats all for now.
Warning-If you quote me and type any nonsense,you will run mad!

Dude....You know what I found out? Despite numbing my body to the effects of the cane, I still remembered the lessons for which I was being caned. However, all those things I was deprived of as punishment As soon as I could afford them when I started working, I indulged heavily in them and no lesson learnt.

Corporal punishment is good when done in moderation and love along with reasoning...

My mama once broke a mirror on my head for getting suspended from school....
U can scold but do not be too late in saying sorry and asking the child to do so too...

MrAnony1:
Not necessarily

Why not?

It would be interesting to hear exactly how you intend to go about reasoning with an infant. Please kindly educate me - using practical instances where possible - on how to reason with children from the earliest stages of infancy so that they develop the right moral character.

Children learn by example. They learn to associate experiences with a sense of morality based on qualified feedback. That is simple "reasoning", unless you're saying the only language you understand is flogging. Then by all means do that to your own offspring.

ihedinobi2:

I completely agree.

I truly fear for children being brought up by today's emotion-driven parents. They end up terribly manipulative with an oversized sense of entitlement and zero discipline.

Your specious assumption may as well be rephrased,

"I truly fear for children being brought up by violence-driven parents. They end up being coarse with a warped sense of judgement that violence is the answer for everything."

If you can't reason with a child without flogging it, you should consider getting a vasectomy. Training children is not a compulsory human event.

ihedinobi2: I completely agree.

I truly fear for children being brought up by today's emotion-driven parents. They end up terribly manipulative with an oversized sense of entitlement and zero discipline.

The children brought up by yesterday's emotion-driven parents are the social justice warriors and self-important entitled special snowflakes of today.

I'm curious; when did discipline become about violence? Do we really need to explore the etymology of that word?

Discipline: mortification by scourging oneself, arising out of instruction and knowledge.

In other words, you're instructed in knowledge THEN you discipline YOURSELF! Discipline starts from the inside out, and is not necessarily an effect of external violent influence. People get hardened to stimulus afterall!

Edit: Initially posted mistakenly / prematurely. Fixed.

Mehhhn when I been small My Mama hardly beat me oh but if she catch me for 1 conner,I dey piss for pant. Choii dat woman can flog!!!

yousee:
My punishment those days was "read this book and tell me the story when i return from work"
That was so bad at first, cos i wanted to run the streets and play ball with my neighbours.
Well, long story short, i fell in love with the African Writers Series at a very young age and it really helped shape me.

I concur. Dr. Ben Carson's mom applied the same logic to her kids and look where it got them, one, the number one neurosurgeon in the world and the other a rocket scientist! It works better than physical pain. My dad applied both koboko and books . Everything should be in moderation though.

The fact that those who beat their children must do it over and over is the clearest proof that it does not work. I can count on one hand the number of times I've disappointed my father, because his disappointment is more painful than any beating.

coachwilcox: We dont need to ask a question when the answer is glaring.

Check out western societies where corporal punishment is seen as abuse. All they do is ground children and ask them to serve detention.

High crime rate, drug abuse, divorce, gang violence, no respect for parents/authorities, teenage pregnancies etc

On the other hand the bible says parents should not be exasperating their children with excessive punishment.

In my humble submission, corporal punishment is good but should be done with love and in moderation adding reasoning with the child, withdrawal of some pleasures and loving counselling. Flogging and caning should be done in moderation as well as a good correction.

Extreme torture, abuse, permanent scarring and neglect is wrong. Just balance things out.

My parents disciplined me well and i came out the better for it.

To all those brainwashed africans out there who keep trying to import/assimilate western culture totally, I say wake up and beware of the consequences.

It's absolutely hilarious when Africans try to use this argument.

The societies are utterly incomparable in terms of cruelty and violence.

The most horrific things I've ever witnessed take place in Nigeria on a daily basis, and it's considered normal.

MissMeiya: The fact that those who beat their children must do it over and over its the clearest proof that it does not work. I can count on one hand the number of times I've disappointed my father, because his disappointment is more painful than any beating.

Exactly!!! It certainly shows itself up as an ineffective method with hit or miss temporary relevance.

I wouldn't even train my dog or cat by flogging it. Let alone a human being!!

InesQor:
Why not?

Because it is very possible to flog your child solely for the purpose of correcting his/her behaviour and not because you are frustrated or insane. You seem to think that this is impossible. Do you therefore hold that the few times when your mother beat you, it was because her reasonable judgment had failed and she was frustrated?

Children learn by example. They learn to associate experiences with a sense of morality based on qualified feedback......

Yes it is true that children learn by example and they learn to associate experiences with a sense of morality based on qualified feedback but this is a very vague reply because it doesn't explain why corporal punishment must be excluded from "qualified feedback". For instance, how would you go about reasoning with a 4 year old that stealing meat from the cooking pot is wrong without punishing the kid?

.....That is simple "reasoning", unless you're saying the only language you understand is flogging. Then by all means do that to your own offspring.

I am not saying that flogging is the only way, I am saying that flogging is a good way and in some cases the best way.

MissMeiya:

It's absolutely hilarious when Africans try to use this argument.

The societies are utterly incomparable in terms of cruelty and violence.

The most horrific things I've ever witnessed take place in Nigeria on a daily basis, and it's considered normal.

Miss Meiya. Unfortunately for you, the western media are so quick to report negative reports of problems in Africa and thats what we hold on to. When it comes to same issues in Europe and America we barely hear of them. Ask CNN to show a documentary on Lagos and they will take u straight to Makoko, Ajegunle and Ijora. You need to see slums in Detroit, Alabama and co.

MissMeiya: The fact that those who beat their children must do it over and over is the clearest proof that it does not work. I can count on one hand the number of times I've disappointed my father, because his disappointment is more painful than any beating.

I might as well say: "The fact that those who talk to their children must talk over and over again is the clearest proof that it does not work."

I am sorry but your assertion really proves nothing. It only confirms your bias.

MrAnony1:

I might as well say: "The fact that those who talk to their children must talk over and over again is the clearest proof that it does not work."

I am sorry but your assertion really proves nothing. It only confirms your bias.

What kind of bizarre logic is this?

Did you read what I wrote?

MissMeiya:

What kind of bizarre logic is this?

Did you read what I wrote?

I read what you wrote, I quoted what you wrote too. I only changed "beating" to "talking" and fortunately you recognize it as bizarre logic.

coachwilcox:

Miss Meiya. Unfortunately for you, the western media are so quick to report negative reports of problems in Africa and thats what we hold on to. When it comes to same issues in Europe and America we barely hear of them. Ask CNN to show a documentary on Lagos and they will take u straight to Makoko, Ajegunle and Ijora. You need to see slums in Detroit, Alabama and co.

I know the slums of America very well. I have never seen a burnt corpse until I came to Nigeria. Never seen a person macheted to death until Nigeria.

I'm sorry to tell you the truth. "The western media" actually isn't all that concerned about Africa.