Children will not remember you for the material things you provided but for the feeling that you cherished them.” (Richard L. Evans)

Students just like you! Or they dislike you! Well, knowing this is a well guarded secret for a teacher. If you want to know whether you are a good teacher or a dictator one, just ask these questions to yourself:

What do you feel when you look at children?

What will be your reaction, if you find students shouting in your class?

If you find any student, who irritates you all the time, what will be your first response?

How many times did you find your students appraising you genuinely, or how many times you felt that your students abhor you?

After ending your class, do you feel energetic or lethargic?

You will get so many answers to analyze yourself by giving answers to the above given questions.

50 students were questioned: what is the one line, which comes to their mind for their teachers? Few of the responses are given below:

I am fed up of my teachers stupid threats!

Teachers always support us and they always do good for us. They are really concern about our future.

I am damn sure that Sir .... was given severe punishments when he was a student. Now he has become mental and throwing tantrums on us.

My teacher always insults me in front of all the students. I want to kill my teacher one day!

These are some of the very unsympathetic and ruthless statements, made by the students. Why they said such, is based on their own perception. But what makes them to say all that is something, which is to be assessed. Corporal Punishment is the result of student's awful attitude in most of the cases. Corporal Punishment is very common illegal act, performed by many teachers worldwide. Despite of reading so many articles, news headlines, laws, etc., some teachers love to be staunch all the time.

The word "corporal" is an adjective which modifies a noun to clarify that it is of the physical body (the corps). Punishment is another word for retribution, the enforcement of undesirable conditions upon someone in response to a previous act that was considered by the punisher. Corporal punishment, then, is defined as unwanted retaliation inflicted upon the physical body of the recipient in response to an act that was undesirable to the person inflicting the retaliation.

(Retrieved from: www.irregulartimes.com/cpdefinition.html on March 21^st, 2009)

There are many types of corporal punishment; some of them include spanking;  slapping on head; insulting; hitting with blade scale; make child stand on desk; biting; whipping; cuffing; belting; whacking; pinching; biting; pulling hair; grabbing or yanking

Corporal punishment is an ineffective discipline strategy with children of all ages and often is dangerous. Corporal punishment most often results in its victim's anger, resentment, and low self-esteem. It teaches violence and revenge as solutions to problems, and perpetuates itself, as children imitate what they see adults doing.

How many times you have read or heard that students look at the personality of a teacher. But truly, students look more at your attitude and behavior than any thing else.

Mr. Rehman, Arif recalls and shares his bitter experiences of corporal punishment in the following examples:

I remember that I was in class 4, when one day, our English teacher asked us that she is going to collect our class work copies. We had one copy each for English language and literature. Our teacher asked monitor (CR: Class Representative), to collect language copies first. After she and CR collected English language copies, she asked everyone to take out English literature copies and then, they both went into teacher’s room for placing copies in teacher’s closet. When I checked my bag for literature copy, I realized that I gave literature copy first instead of language. I came in front of class near the chair of the teacher, and waited for her to come, so that I would inform her. When she came, and shouted at me by saying ‘why are you standing here, go to your seat’, I informed her that I had given wrong copy first and the copy in my hand is language copy and also said sorry to her, she didn’t said anything but starts slapping me on my face and head and back and chest, she might had beat me 50 times and the whole class was viewing this beating as I was standing in front of class room. While she was beating me she was saying ‘why you gave wrong copy, didn’t your heard what I said’. She beat me up took English language copy from me and after finished beating me, she ordered me to bent on my knees in front of class. I was crying and was bent on my knees for the entire period. I wasn’t bad student, but still she had beaten me and treated me as if I was a prisoner and did something very wrong.

Salima Moosa shares her bitter experience in the following words:

When I was in class 5^th, once, my classmate didn't bring her workbook. Every body knew that our teacher would kill that girl. She begged me to give my workbook to her. I did so as I thought that she might be rescued if I could help her out. Teacher checked her work book, which was, actually of mine, and she was appraised by the teacher. When teacher came towards me, I informed my teacher that I hadn't done my work. She slapped me non- stop 8 times on my cheek. But I sacrificed for my friend. I lied to my teacher, because she was a wild beast. She never listened to the students with love. I hate that teacher! For me, she was ill. Currently, I am a professional teacher, and I always try alternatives. I care my students and students respect me a lot.

Article 28 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child says that all children have a right to education, and that discipline in schools should respect children’s human dignity. A school that is not safe is not a good place to learn. In most countries, children spend more time in schools than anywhere else outside of their homes. Schools have an important role to play in protecting children from violence.

But in many countries, physical punishment is a routine part of school life. Teachers can be cruel, humiliate children, physically abuse them or even use sexual violence. Teachers do so because they think it makes pupils work better or because they want to show their power. Violent discipline teaches children to fear, but it doesn’t teach them to use their own initiative. It teaches them that violence is a good way to solve conflicts, but it doesn’t teach them values like tolerance and justice. It can also make them feel bad about themselves. Bullying between children may not be seen as a serious problem. Many countries have no laws to protect schoolchildren and students from discrimination.

Teachers claim that Corporal punishment is the only solution to maintain discipline in a classroom; but challenging and good teachers articulate that there are many alternative ways through which we could transform students' inappropriate behavior without using any punishment.

Teachers are role model for most of the students, so they want their teachers to listen to them. The days are gone when students accepted staunch and dictator teacher. Time has come to rethink and change our pattern of teaching.