Corporal Punishment Ban

To ban or not? Dispute over banning corporal punishment is hot again in the education field of late.

Progressive superintendent Kwak No-hyun of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced the policy of disallowing any form of physical punishments on students starting from the fall semester.

This move came after a teacher working at an elementary school in Seoul was suspended from teaching for having beaten his students recently.

However, some parents¡¯ organizations and conservative teachers are opposing the move. They are concerned that teachers would have difficulties controlling problematic or disobedient students at schools.

The Korean Federation of Teachers¡¯ Association (Çѱ¹±³¿ø´ÜüÃÑ¿¬ÇÕȸ), a conservative teachers¡¯ group, claims that the ban on corporal punishment is likely to weaken teachers¡¯ authority.
Citing the cases of foreign countries, they also claim that regulations on corporal punishment should be flexible, depending on the circumstances. For instance, 23 states in the U.S. restrictively allow corporal punishment. Therefore, a total ban on corporal punishment is absurd, they add.

On the other hand, proponents welcome the decision, claiming that corporal punishment infringes on student¡¯s basic human rights. Schools, above all, should consider children¡¯s rights and respect them, they say.

It is also necessary to think of creating an educational environment where teachers can instruct students in humane and democratic ways, an official from the National Youth Policy Institute (Çѱ¹Ã»¼Ò³âÁ¤Ã¥¿¬±¸¿ø) says.

In addition, they point out that corporal punishment does not have much educational effect on students and it is likely that teachers may abuse corporal punishment to vent their anger on the students in the name of disciplining students.

Amid the growing controversy, experts suggest close coordination among the education ministry, teachers¡¯ unions and parents¡¯ groups on this issue to minimize the abuse and maximize educational effects without infringing on the basic rights of young students.