Understanding the Intent Behind Discipline

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I’ve always said that opinions differ from person to person. It’s the same way that what works for you might not be what will work for me. I hate it when someone forced his or her opinions down my throat. It is for this reason I’ve never agreed with people that corporal punishment is bad. Yes, I am one of the people who is totally against beating a child to a point where a feels like you hate him or her.

In fact I have been at the receiving end of this kind of treatment before and what was supposed to be a good will; or so I thought by the teacher turned out to be a bitter experience. I did something which was very normal for a kid in primary 6 will do. If I can remember correctly I think o disrespected the teacher and he decided to punish me. He made me lean against the wall which was a painful experience and then when he realised I was on pain he beat the hell out of me.

I am going to be blunt here. I still hate him for that. At that point of my life it didn’t feel like I was being corrected at that point cause of the way he made me feel. He beat me to a point where it felt like he already had hatred for me. The thing is, my father at that time was the principal of the college he attended. The demonstration school that I was attending was under that school as well so yh he had the chance to teach there. So at some point in time I thought it was a lesson out of hatred for my father.

It’s been over 10 years now and I still despise the teacher when I think of it. I am someone who has always been advocated fr forgiveness but even if you were me I bet you won’t forgive him.

On the other hand, when I was a kid; I think I was way less than 5 years old. I stole my mom’s money and was caught.She beat me for it but then I was made to understand that it was bad to steal. For some reason I think that’s single experience always made me not to touch something which doesn’t belong to me.

The difference in this case is that my mom beat me with love and a sense of correction. But the teacher I believe with all my heart beat me with hatred. On the topic of parents beating their kids up, in this part of the world(Africa) we are kids who tend not to listen to word until the rod is used. Whether people like it or not we only respond to corporal punishment. I believe there are a few scenarios where one can try to raise his or her kids like in the western world but the truth at the end of the day is that we are Africans and we will always have to use the African ways at a point in our lives.