How Research and Theories of Learning Inform Government on the Issues Related to the Use of Corporal Punishment in Schools

Abstract

The United Nations already declared corporal punishment as against human rights by its article no. 28, 3 (2) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Tanzania among many countries rectified the convention though corporal punishment still exists. The paper is aimed to inform the government and the general population using learning theories and research findings on the need to ban corporal punishment in schools. The significant of this paper is that, it tries to inform the government and other education stakeholders on the alternative or better ways to manage students’ behaviour in primary and secondary schools in Tanzania and to have policies that consider the rights of the students as per the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child article No. 28, 3 (2). The paper is also expected to contribute to fill the knowledge gap on the educational stakeholders’ perception towards the use of corporal punishment as the strategy of managing children’s behaviour in the schools. In addition, the community at large through reading this paper would be informed on the negative impacts of using corporal punishment as a means of rectifying undesired behaviour from   their children hence discouraging them from using such kind of punishment to their children while they are in their home environment. The paper also outlines the reasons, on why corporal punishment has continued being provided, impacts of corporal punishment on those inflicted, the need to ban it, alternatives that researches have suggested to corporal punishment, and its challenges.

Keywords:-Punishment, corporal punishment, learning theory, research