Lee Hyo-sik is Finance Desk editor at The Korea Times. He manages finance-related stories on macroeconomics, banks, stocks, bonds, crypto etc. He is passionate about covering what's happening in Korea's financial industry and explaining it to both Korean and non-Korean readers. You can reach him at leehs@koreatimes.co.kr. Your insights and feedbacks are always appreciated.
To spank or not to spank
By Lee Hyo-sik
By Kelly Sein Oh
There is one tradition that many people can relate to, but is seldom talked about: corporal punishment or one of its most common forms, spanking. Everyone, at one time or other in her youth, has been spanked by a teacher or parents. Adults deem it discipline; children call it unfair. Corporal punishment by definition is the infliction of pain as a form of punishment. The nature of the infliction, nevertheless, raises a question of the validity of the punishment: Doesn’t it lead to child abuse? As Dr. Irwin Hyman, the director of the National Center for the Study of Corporal Punishment at Temple University lamented, “How the hell can we eliminate child abuse when schools are allowed to do these things?”
Seoul has already banned corporal punishment throughout its schools. This has invited a mixed response _ relief from the students, mostly protests from the teachers who complain that “they have no positive alternative measures to replace corporal punishment.” Regardless, the other cities should shortly follow Seoul’s lead. Corporal punishment should be illegal in public settings such as educational institutions, as it is not an appropriate form of discipline _ being unnecessary and often abusive.
“I was spanked as a child.” Many adults use this as a common excuse for corporal punishment; and they quickly add, “But I turned out just fine.” That is not the point, however; rather it is that they turned out fine despite the spanking. It is also commonly asserted that without physical punishment, a child turns out spoiled. This has proved fallible. Corporal punishment produces more negative outcomes than the supposed intentional good. Murray Straus, a professor of sociology and the director of the Family Research Laboratory of the University of New Hampshire states: “Children who are frequently and aggressively spanked have more social problems than other children and are much more likely to become child-abusers when they are adults. Such children are also more likely to hit their siblings, have lower self-esteem and exhibit more symptoms of depression as adults.” These are just a couple of the damaging effects along with the likelihood of cheating, lying, and bullying. As citizens of Korea, shouldn’t we strive to raise the next generation to its full potential? The adult’s “attempt” to discipline the child, in actuality, may very well be setting him up for a damaged future.
Corporal punishment, in a split second, can turn into abuse. Who can exactly measure when it becomes illegal or when it’s right to stop? For years, corporal punishment has been used as a common tool of discipline. Before it’s too late, we should break the tradition and create a new one that involves a nonviolent teacher-student interaction. The teacher should initially warn the student, then, after several misdemeanors, engage their parents into the situation and/or assign mandatory detention or community service.
With negotiation, compromises, rules with consequences, along with the genuine commitment and determination, teachers can ease away from corporal punishment. The cessation of corporal punishment has long been overdue.
kelly.s.oh@hotmail.com
Kelly Sein Oh is a sophomore at Bellevue High School in Washington State. He is currently working as a reporter for the school newspaper, The Barque.