Dear Editor,
As far as the issue of corporal punishment goes, I support the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) position on corporal punishment. I’m aware that the topic of corporal punishment in schools is a controversial one. But I’m one of the few people who is in favour of corporal punishment.
Editor, I don’t believe in physical abuse. But I do believe in, “godly corrections and compassionate instructions.” Physical abuse destroys and injures children. But godly corrections and compassionate instructions develop and build strong and good character.
Also, I don’t believe every child should be spanked. My wife was a good child in school and at home so she never got spanked. On the other hand, I was the worst of the worst at home and in school. So I needed and deserved all of the spanking I got at home and in school. All of this helped.
Editor, I’m one of the reasons why schools need to continue corporal punishment because I was “out-of-control.” I was the teachers’ worst nightmare, and I made their lives miserable. I was the child that made some teachers leave the teaching field. I was the child who “did everything I wasn’t suppose to do.” I was the child who needed corporal punishment.
At the time I was spanked, I hated it and the teachers. But now that I’m older and much wiser I now see that godly corrections and compassionate instructions was something that was good for me and something that helped me very much by shaping my life because I was out-of-control.
As I reflect on the past, I remember hating the teachers who spanked me and loving those who didn’t but looked the other way. Today, I love the teachers who spanked me and tried to help me learn discipline. But the teachers who looked the other way, didn’t discipline me, didn’t truly love me. If they had truly loved me then they wouldn’t have looked the other way, they would have disciplined me.
So it would be unwise to completely eradicate corporal punishment from schools when there are still some children who need it to learn discipline, to be better persons.
Editor, now I’ll like to share with you two personal experiences, which made me support keeping corporal punishment. I’ll never forget Mr. Agrippa. He was my Headmaster at Charlestown Secondary School and was a strict disciplinarian. He believed in two things: God and discipline.
One of the greatest lessons he taught me was punctuality. Every day he waited at the school gate to see who was late for school. If you’re tardy, he lovingly offered you the “rod of corrections.” To this day, I’m grateful to him for teaching me the importance of punctuality. His lesson on punctuality was reinforced to me when I joined the military. In the military, I learned that being punctual can save a person’s life.
I’ll also never forget Headmistress Mavis at Saint Pius Primary School. She taught me compassion. Many, many days I went to school without combing my hair. One day, she took me into her office and gently began to comb my hair. All these years later and I still remember it. It was one of the greatest acts of kindness done to an out-of-control child. A child who was never loved. A child who learned love from a teacher. A teacher like Miss Mavis can discipline my child anytime.
Editor, if you want to fix corporal punishment in the schools, the government needs to hire more teachers like Mavis who are kind, gentle, loving and compassionate to teach our children not eradicate corporal punishment.
I believe the government needs to keep corporal punishment in schools to control out-of-control children. Therefore, I can truly say the godly corrections and compassionate instructions that I received in school have truly rehabilitated me. So I’m deeply grateful for the many, many spankings I received in school. And I strongly encourage the government to keep corporal punishment in schools.
Yours faithfully,
Anthony Pantlitz
