Speaking as a member of Gen Z, caning never left. I personally attended a school where students were beaten thoroughly for the smallest mistakes. That school burned down a few years after I left. Go ahead and “reintroduce” it. It will change nothing. And all these people pontificating will be forced to swallow humble pie.
At least someone who can see through the mist
I know not everything western is better. But take a good look at Africa and tell me the good we have done ourselves by obeying systems borrowed from elsewhere to keep us obedient and unquestioning. Even if corporal punishment is also African (Europe and America divested themselves of it when they understood the notion of freedom as not just physical, political and economic, but also mental, emotional, and legal) we must be developing socially in leaps and bounds for creating a culture of torture in our society, right from home and school.
Corporal punishment is actually making up for the inefficiencies of modern parenting.
Majority of parents don’t teach their children about responsibility, virtues and the law of Cause & Effect from the time they are young.
This doesn’t mean that all the children will grow up bad, it shows the danger that comes with it when these children are exposed to the society at large.
No one is addressing the harassment that some of the teachers have been exposed to by the students they are supposed to teach. Honestly, if parents don’t even teach their children respect, how are these people to survive once they are grown and supposed to be productive?
Let’s not throw everything to the teachers and schooling system.
Many parents are anxious to get their children back to schools as they go about chasing money.
The boarding schools that are being demonized now have helped very, very many people.
Now, we want to westernize schooling, but are the main stakeholders (the parents) ready to take up their rightful position as the disciplinarians?
Many don’t even want to spend time with their kids at a vulnerable period as adolescence.
Let’s call a spade for what it is.
Parents are also a problem here.
I thoroughly enjoyed boarding school in primary, even then you could a boarding kid and day scholar.
There must be a deterrent, and when minors begin attacking teachers and burning property then we ought not to sit pretty on our hands and theorize everything.
Sometimes dawa ya moto ni moto.
Europe and America divested themselves of corporal punishment when all stakeholders were ready to play their roles in showing children what freedoms are, the price paid and its immense benefits.
The problem here is the ‘orders from above’ declarations without the right framework guiding them.
I really wish that there’s goodwill from all parties in addressing the corporal punishment topic/children cruelty/abolition of boarding schools/children rights & freedoms.
It’s so sad that children that really need these infrastructure are also suffering from such acts.
We want to give our children freedom without teaching them the price of the same. That’s very wrong.
How many parents will even negotiate with their children at home?
Now, where is the logic that we expect the schools to do it?
Teaching begins with the parents, so that we grow children that understand responsibility. So that when they are given freedom at school level, we are confident of having upright citizens.
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You nailed it.
It all boils down to parents who did not do their job when the kids were still younger.
Was I caned when I was young ? Yes ! But it stopped the minute I got into puberty.
Was I a rebellious teen ? Yes ! But I have never destroyed anyone’s property or even defaced public property. I never risked my education neither did I joke with my grades. I never had sex until legal age and I smoked my first weed at 22. I had my limits because of the guidelines set by my parents.
Am I a good gal ? Hell nah , but I’m a model citizen.
It all boils down to how we raise our kids.
There’s a time to use the cane…and even then it’s not an every day thing. As far as I can recall I’ve been caned less than 20 times in my childhood by my mom.
Then there’s a time to put away the cane and have an adult conversation with your child - from 13 yrs going forward.
Who said freedom means freedom from consequences?
The west abandoned caning rather recently btw. And guess what happened in the same amount of time? Societal decay.
We didn’t borrow corporal punishment. Don’t try to sell that.
Compare families where children are caned and those that aren’t and honestly make a case for not caning.
Pain is a biological deterrent written into our genetic code. Bad=Pain is how we are biologically wired to learn. Our fathers were caned, we were caned, we cane our children. We see children who were not caned, we have friends who were not caned, the evidence for this is TOO evident to argue against.
This mentality that ‘white man did, black man must do’ is just awful. Africans were right, and are right on this one. Evidence cannot be that caning is bad because the west did away with it. You MUST have evidence of impact.
And this idea that caning makes children fearful is just nonsense. Caning is only administered when the child is in error and is associated with the consequence, not hate.
I have friends who have raised kids with your mentality, they thought us ‘Africanized and barbaric’ to quote one. Today, it’s us who are expected to advice their children because ours are so well-behaved.
Our secret?
We caned them young, we caned them early, we pinched them often.
Parents who raised children, their children, without the cane want others to cane them as adults!!!
@Lionheart shoulkd hear this. Children NEED to be caned young. It’s qick, it’s effective, it’s humane. Inhumane is not teaching a child their boundaries i9n the lingo they best understand, then setting wild dogs (which society is to those who don’t play by the rules), on them
That’s how it’s supposed to be, it’s simply straightforward as that.
If we as parents will fail to discipline and most importantly teach them when young, we’ll very much grow children who even we are unsure of.
By the time we get to adult conversing and reasoning with them, they have grasped what was instilled in them when young.
Your parents raised you well then, I trust you’ve carried on the tradition
Both proponents and opponents have solid arguements but i have to side with lionheart on this one.
Canes are for donkeys cows and such…lets reason with the kids.
We just keep throwing things like CBC, boarding, a 3 term 9-10 month academic calender at the kids without consulting them and we foolishly expect them to conform without raising a finger.
Please…kids are rational human beings…just because they are younger and greener on the mechanics of society doesnt render their thoughts desires ideas and opinions invalid.
Caning the kids will only put more pressure on the kids and they will definitely lash back wondering how dumb us adults are for expecting different results from the same processes.
Invite the kids to the table and give them a voice…hear them out for God’s sake…i for one advocate for shorter terms and a significant focus on skills and talents.
2 academic terms and one term for sports and other talents…get sports clubs to support schools with training, artistes to train and mentor upcoming artistes and some community work…ie the same effort put in academics should be put in extracurricular activities.
HAVE YOU GUYS NOTICED THAT WHILE KIDS ARE STILL STUDYING WE ARE NOT HEARING OF DRAMA FESTIVALS, EAST AFRICAN SCHOOL GAMES, SCIENCE CONVENTIONS, PROVINCIALS ZONALS EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES? ITS ALL ABOUT MORNING PREPS, NORMAL LESSONS, EVENING PREPS, SATURDAY CLASSES AND TESTS…sindio?
Kids you know what to do…mpaka hile siku watawa skiza…msichokeh hata kidogo.
Give the kids a break…power to the students…its their futures at stake.
Just because this shit worked on us doesnt mean it will work with the coming generations…sheeeesh.
Most of You are not focused on the real root cause of this problem …
A Fish begins to rot from the Head …
A piss-poor , corrupt , inept , vision-less , wheelbarrow bottom-up Hustler leadership class devoid of Integrity on the one hand …
And on the other hand , a society , community , teachers and parents who have failed the minors in their care …
Sit down and Interrogate the matter further with the few wise Sage’s still alive today …
Back in the day , various leadership structures in the community and family were stable , respectable figures who led by example and we’re good role models …
Every Child was a Community Child and Elders respected themselves before demanding respect.
It was “do-as-I-do” and not “do-as-I-say” …
How can the Youth take you seriously if all they see around them are a generally corrupt and backward Hustler Leadership , Sonko’s , Shebeesh’s , Immoral Church shepherds and teachers …???
Add poor and absentee parenting into the mix and you end up with the deadly behavior cocktail that we now witness …
Just an Example:
Ever heard of a school being burnt down in Singapore …???
Ever wonder Why …???
To make a long story short:
The problem is a lack of DISCIPLINE and INTEGRITY …
At every responsibility levels , ages , ranks , sexes …
“… Umleavyo Ndivyo Akuavyo …”
And it is at the very top that CHANGES need to be effected BEFORE we start expecting positive results from our troubled Youth …
End of Sermon … :D:D:D
Interesting observations …
I was educated in the GCE System to Advanced Level where the approach to Education was very different and holistic …
Classes proper began at 08:30 and ended at 16:30 from Monday to Friday .
In between those hours , time was set aside for a very enriched program of theory and practicals , sports , educational trips , hobbies , library and field research , one-on-one remedial learning assistance etc , etc …
A devoted , committed , professional cadre of teachers , administrators and ancillary staff created an environment where we got a proper education.
I was punished ( but never caned ) at school for my various infractions … ( … Home was another matter … :D:D )
I did not turn out too bad , did I … ??? :D:D
Discipline means different things to different people …
Whereas my Mum was rather “heavy handed” ( …Carrot and Stick …) , my Father had a different approach ( … rewarding good behavior and withdrawal of perks and privileges for bad activities …)…
The combo worked quite well …:D:D
Sadly , in some schools , a bizzire form of extreme cruelty seems to be the order of the day and fatalities have resulted …:mad::mad:
Wanted to post something along these lines i just opted not to regurgitate stuff weve said over and over again. I fully agree with your sermon.
I also sampled a few different systems and had the pleasure of free lessons, peer reviews, library sessions, lessons from 8am to 3.30pm, superb radical teaching staff, guest tutors and mentors including poets, soldiers, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, ambasadors, diplomats a balanced learning environment (school would host local international sportsmen would and ample time and equipment was provided for training…unge ingia shule upate wasee wako field na coaches na free students all over reading novels sipping drinks watching training etc etc)…thats when i realised 844 ni pure crap.
Kuna very popular african artistes…atleast 3 who would come over to mentor students wa performing arts kila term…ive seen a number of my former buddies auditioning on t.v.
Nina hekaya na dame mmoja celeb…siku hizi yeye si ranking…hamuwezi kuamini nikiweka hapa…emad awukila awagana awaguk akapm am hedom…but she had talent.
That’s why corporal punishment for people that are 16+ isn’t even an argument.
Those are adults. And the damage is already done.
What I am for is light caning for kids.
By the time they are 16, caning just inspires more rebellion, more often than not.
I believe that as in most things, caning isn’t a black or white, good or bad thing, but in its application.
Caning should be done early, by parents and caregivers who obviously love their children more than armchair experts.
However, there is a point beyond which caning will just be retrogressive.
Caning should be a way of early instruction, to enable avoidance of future greater risk or danger.
Hapa lonely parents wamefail, trying to make friends of their kids… your job is not to raise kids who like you, it’s to raise kids who will be successful adults in future. They will thank you later.
Google corporal punishment in Kenya and you will find Kenyan studies