No positives to corporal punishment, says Juliet Holness

WESTERN BUREAU:

Deputy House Speaker Juliet Holness is holding on firmly to her stance against corporal punishment as a means of disciplining children despite criticism since she first voiced her position in 2016.

“In my observation over the years, having been a parent myself and having been a child who was spanked, it is not the best way to get our children to listen. It really does not force them to listen, and in addition to not having the positive impact of being able to teach them through discussion, through helping them to understand where they are wrong, or to showing and teaching by example, it literally prepares them to not be able, because of that missing link in communication, to resolve conflicts when we get older other than by through violence,” she said.

Holness, who is also the member of parliament for St Andrew East Rural, was speaking with The Gleaner on Wednesday, following her keynote address at an awards ceremony at the Mount Carey Baptist Church for 108 high-performing Primary Exit Profile students in St James Southern.

“I have heard people indicate that the Bible says you should not spare the rod and spoil the child. I grew up in the Church, and although the rod of correction is taken by many to be a physical rod, I do not subscribe to that. I do not see biblical days as a time when people were hitting children,” said Holness.

She added that corporal punishment as part of Jamaica's culture has its roots in slavery, urging citizens to shun the practice.

“ ... We literally were taken into slavery and beaten, and then our children were raised into slavery and beaten into submission,” Holness reasoned. “Over time, if you look at what it has done to society, instead of being able to communicate with each other, to sit down and resolve whatever conflicts or disagreements there are, the easiest thing for people to do is to vent their frustration and inability to understand and communicate ... is by aggression and by hitting.”

In 2017, Prime Minister Holness declared that corporal punishment was not in keeping with the Sustainable Development Goals under the United Nations Development Programme, suggesting that Parliament debate the issue to put an end to the practice as a means of discipline in homes and schools.

However, in 2019, reports circulated that teachers were still embracing corporal punishment, including the use of straps or their hands.

Then Jamaica Teachers' Association President Dr Garth Anderson said his organisation had been encouraging educators to eliminate the practice.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com