Some of us remember the uproar in the media about the beating one of the Slumdog Millionaire child stars received from his father. And then it all went quiet.
Children and servants in India are often at the receiving end of physical violence, in the form of slapping or beating, from adults who hold power over them. These adults include teachers, masters and mistresses, and sadly, some parents.
It is not uncommon in India to see a minor car crash, followed by the two drivers getting out of their cars to assess the damage. If both drivers are sahibs or owners of the cars, rude words follow but then things are settled. If one driver is a sahib, and the other merely someone’s employee-driver, the latter almost always gets a slap and a few choicest, abusive epithets about his mother or his sister. Mind you, the person slapping (slapper?) is a complete stranger to the person being slapped, but that doesn’t seem to bother the slapper in the least. The sahib presumes a superior power position and acts accordingly. Unfortunately, the employee-driver doesn’t always presume his right to self-defence or even offence-as-defence.
Likewise with children. Indians who were in school during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s were commonly beaten up as part of the disciplining process. Note I did not say “slapped”, I said “beaten”. I have heard of and seen the sharp edge of rulers, canes, and once a blackboard duster, being used to discipline some boys in a manner totally out of proportion with their mischief or misdemeanour. I particularly remember two teachers mainly for their violence towards students; one used his hands on the faces of 10-15 year olds while the other’s favourite tool was his ruler. I also remember noticing that the same boys and girls were repeatedly punished in many ways, including being asked to stand on a bench for the entire day, or being asked to kneel down for hours outside the classroom or worse, in front of the school assembly. Clearly violence-as-disciplining wasn’t very effective! While I made much mischief, I never got caught and my strong academic performance, a big “character reference” in India then and I suppose even now, made sure I never got punished. Clearly the threat of violence was also no deterrent for the determined.
This morning, I heard how an 11 year old child, who has just gone to live in India for a short while, was slapped by his teacher. The child comes from a very different culture. To him, this idea of disciplining is alien. When I heard I felt instantly livid and embarrassed. It seemed the barbarism is alive and kicking, and now we are passing it on to our children. So much for India Shining!
I decided to probe further. I asked this question of Indian users on Twitter:
Has your child been caned/ slapped by a teacher? What was your response?
I also asked some Indian friends the same question by email, and sought to clarify the legal position on the matter.
Now these are no scientific surveys of opinions and attitudes, but it was an interesting exercise. The answers were variable, as expected (the ages are my guesses based on my interactions with some respondents). Those in their late 20s and early 30s, who do or do not have kids, took strong exception to the possibility of their child being physically disciplined at school. Most of the DMs (direct messages which are not in the public stream) came from mothers who protested against such slapping etc; they report being told variously by the school to take their child elsewhere or finding their other children expelled or disciplined, as if to make a point. There was also a disappointing chorus from men and women alike to the effect: “We got beaten too, we turned out ok, didn’t we? Why this fuss then?”. Why disappointing? Because this sounds like a defence of the practice as if there is some kind of licence in perpetuity for slappings and beatings to continue. Oh, and it is not a school-specific issue. Some of India’s best known schools were mentioned as being the purveyors of such beatings!
The legal framework disallows the use of beatings/ physical punishment as a method of disciplining. But it seems to be deterring few teachers and school principals! (Ed. note, added Feb 5th, 2010, the source is a barrister friend in India: Rule 37 of the Delhi School Establishment Rules was held as unconstitutional by the Delhi HC in 2001. This was the provision that permitted corporal punishment as a permissible form of punishment for extreme indiscipline. Incidentally, even the old Rule 37 authorised only the Principal/Head to mete out corporal punishment. That too in narrow circumstances. The Rule also took into account the possibility that a cane may be used to dispense corporal punishment. If a cane is used, it must be limited to 10 strokes on the palm and nowhere else.) One has to wonder who dreams up and drafts this sort of precision in cruelty!
Most interesting has been the high volume of messages that suggested that parents really should not do anything such as trying to escalate the matter, or take the school to task otherwise. Why? Because almost certainly the child will be ostracised, or otherwise made to feel humiliated in the school, or worse, will be expelled altogether. The story – as stories do in India – will get around and the parents won’t be able to secure any place for their child.
The issue therefore boils down to the same old: the school has power over the student and by extension, the parents; the teacher has power over the student and doesn’t hesitate to use it and slaps and beats the student; the parents keep quiet for fear of blowing up the situation; the teacher continues unchastised; the school continues to mouth clichés with nary a dent to their reputation.
If the behaviour goes unchallenged, what is the message to the child?
That violence, especially if you are the powerful one and hence the perpetrator, is acceptable as a problem solving method?
That violence is tolerable, because you have to keep your eye on the big picture (such as staying in school)?
That violence is valid to use against those powerless against you?
Excellent and consistent message, I think. Institutionalising such violence is a proven way to ensure we turn out generations of the same solid characters that people now in their 30s, 40s, and 50s turned out to be, thanks to all that slapping and beating and kneeling down.
One thing is also certain. That way we keep these servants in their place. The drivers – and perhaps domestic maids and servants in India – can happily look forward to years of beatings at the hands of their masters and mistressed, thus educated. They too should look at the big picture. At least they have jobs.
PS: I was struggling to find a good, catchy title for this post. In the end I settled for what this is about. Please do not offer Victorian explanations (we are in the 21st century!) or “it also happens in other countries, why are you singling out India again?”. I don’t care about other countries. Besides, are we lemmings that we must follow every one else off a steep hill’s cliff?
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