Do you know what corporal punishment is?

 

This is when physical punishment is handed down to someone from a teacher or parent. It is when you’re smacked as a form of punishment.

 

Is corporal punishment allowed?

 

According to our law, corporal punishment in schools is not allowed. However, getting a smack at home is not against the law. This does not mean that your parents are allowed to hit you senseless and get away with it. If your parents did continuously hit you as a form of punishment, it would be considered abusive.

Are you punished by your caregivers or disciplined?

 

There is a difference between punishing a child and disciplining them.

 

Punishment is based on the belief that if children are made to suffer for doing something wrong, they will not do it again. For example, a hard smack on the buttocks.

 

Disciplining a child involves them in their punishment and thereby making them learn that it is unacceptable. For example, taking away the privilege of television for a day.

Why caregivers may be punishing you incorrectly?

Children today have a lot more freedom than before. They grow up fast by watching TV, playing video games and accessing the internet. This means that you are very often far more advanced than your care-givers give you credit for. You talk back. You question orders without just accepting them. This leads to conflict and very often your parents and caregivers are at a loss about what they should do. Your parents are also under a lot of pressure. They have to work hard to provide what you need and want. They are constantly under pressure and this means that they aren’t able to spend much time with you and when they are with you, they often don’t know ‘what makes you tick’. So, when there is trouble in the home, parents often resort to smacking and destructive forms of punishment and discipline.

How can we change things?

 

It isn’t simple. It calls for everyone to compromise and communicate. It is not acceptable for parents to discipline or punish in an abusive way, but try to look at the situation from their perspective. Are people communicating in your home? Are you talking through problems? Are you trying to understand what your parents may be going through in order to provide for you?

Accept responsibility & play a more active role

Being a teenager is generally a confusing time. You are trying to find out who you are, what you like, and who you like. To top it all, there is a lot of peer pressure nowadays. Ask yourself if you sometimes behave in a manner that makes it difficult for your caregivers to approach you. A lot of children find it difficult to talk to their parents – but it works both ways. Caregivers aren’t mind readers and can only help you if you let them. Also, ask yourself if you are ungrateful for all the things your caregivers do for you. If you are, think about how this makes them feel. They work so hard for you and you never seem happy.

What does this have to do with punishment and discipline?

Well, if there is no communication and openness between you and your caregiver, perhaps that is why they resort to unacceptable forms of discipline and punishment. Are you treating your caregivers as you would like to be treated. Perhaps try talking to them about the way that they punish/discipline you. You never know, they might value your input!

 

--------------------------------

 

This feature article is brought to you by Childline South Africa .

 

Childline South Africa is committed to developing appropriate social services including a 24 hour toll free helpline and supportive therapeutic social services for children who have been victims of violence.

BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF SOUTH AFRICA (BBBSSA) is a non-profit organisation dedicated to helping South African children and youth at risk between the ages of 6 -18 years. It is a mentoring programme that matches youth in need with carefully selected and trained adult volunteers in one-to-one relationships that help them maximize their potential.

One of the main hurdles facing ECD in South Africa concerns children’s access to good ECD services. Early Childhood Development (ECD) refers to the physical, emotional, social and cognitive development of children aged birth to nine years, both within and outside the family.

When we are born, we know what we want straight away. We know we want a nice hug and love from the people we are close to and we know we don’t want to stay hungry. We know that we want all of this from our family and friends.

But what we want isn’t always what we get. And that is why it is important that you learn from a young age, what your rights and responsibilities are.

Some babies are sleepers and some seem never to close an eye for longer than it takes to get started to do something else. Some babies appear impervious to much that goes on around them and others are sensitive to every piece of stimulus that comes anywhere near. When older, some babies venture forth eagerly and others are glued to your lap for years.

The pack provides the transition from all social interactions taking place with the parents or parental figures, towards relationships which are independent of the parents altogether.
Most teenagers need to move in a pack. What many parents do not understand however, is that the pack cannot survive in the wild without the adults - at all times - setting up the boundaries within which their young can safely roam.

In honour of International Children’s Day – June 1st.

How often do any of us stop to think that doing the job of a parent is how children become adults who protect and take care of their own children in their turn?

We’re all tired of hearing about the things mothers and fathers do wrong, so we asked the experts what today’s parents can be proud of.

By definition, children of separated parents experience ‘separate’ parenting, as distinct from ‘together’ parenting.