Tough love (2)

Sixty-four percent of female and 66 percent of male public school students say they have experienced being ridiculed or teased in school—whether by their peers or by their teachers and other school authorities.

Fifty-eight percent of girls and 61 percent of boys have been shouted or cursed at or used harsh language on.

Twenty-nine percent of girls and 40 percent of boys have been threatened with physical violence.

Forty-six percent of girls and 39 percent of boys have been deliberately ignored or not spoken to.

These are just some of the findings of a study conducted by Plan International, Council for the Welfare of Children and the United Nations Children’s Fund.

The report, “Towards a child-friendly education environment: a baseline study on violence against children in public schools,” which came out last year, surveyed 6,931 children aged six to 17 in 173 public elementary and secondary schools. Six rural areas—Mountain Province, Masbate, Northern Samar, Capiz, Camotes Islands in Cebu, and Sultan Kudarat—as well as three urban spots—Manila, Metro Cebu and Metro Davao—were surveyed.

The incidents above make up only some of the physical abuses reported by the children. Other forms of physical violence are: getting pinched, having things thrown (at them), being made to stand in the sun and being locked in an enclosed space.

And then there are incidences of sexual violence committed against these children. Forty percent of the girls and 42 percent of the boys have been spoken to in a sexually offensive manner. Fourteen percent in both groups have been touched inappropriately; 7 percent of girls and 8 percent of boys have been kissed while 2 percent of girls and 3 percent of boys have been forced to have sex.

I do not wish to parrot every single statistic cited in the book. The numbers are there to convince us of the prevalence of the matter. And I think we are convinced that violence in schools is common albeit in varying forms and degrees. Most importantly, it is what we do with these numbers that counts.

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Reacting to the findings, the Department of Education has made a commitment to strengthen its Child-Friendly School Systems program, a project it started years ago.

There is absolutely no justification for any kind of violence in schools. Article VIII, Section 8, of the Code of Ethics for Professional Teachers (1998) makes it unlawful for a teacher to use physical violence to discipline a troublesome student.

The Department of Education Service Manual (2000) also prohibits school officials and teachers from imposing or applying cruel, physically harmful punishment on any pupil, or suspension or expulsion.

Department Order No. 297, Series of 2007 reiterates the provisions of Republic Act No. 7610 (Anti-Child Abuse Law) against maltreatment of children.

Finally, the 2010 Manual of Regulations of Public Schools strictly prohibits corporal punishment, degrading tasks and punishment of a cruel nature. Teachers may be dismissed for violation of the rules. Principals and other school officials also face disciplinary action if they abuse the “parental authority entrusted to them.”

But as the numbers show, these guidelines have done little to discourage the perpetration of acts of violence against children. Very clearly, it is not enough that guidelines be spelled out. There has to be a sustained effort to educate school personnel that there are other ways to manage the behavior of their pupils. Our teachers are likely to listen; after all, they also have the best interests of the children in mind. The problem is just that most of us grew up believing that sparing the rod would really be tantamount to spoiling the child.

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Not many people (children and adults alike) are aware that certain acts are considered acts of violence. We normally think an act is violent if it causes extreme pain and leaves physical marks like wounds or bruises. Anything less than this is deemed acceptable, especially when coming from authority figures who are duty bound to straighten out a child’s rowdy behavior. On the other hand, clashes with peers are also sometimes interpreted as petty quarrels, “away bata” and that kids are best left to deal with these themselves. Bullying as a behavioral pattern has been only a recent issue (I will talk more about this next time).

The limited understanding makes some children believe that they actually deserve the violent act because they are “makulit” or “pasaway”.

The fact is that despite well-worded guidelines by the Education Department, and avowals to fight violence in any form against the youth, nobody can say how well these guidelines are implemented. The passage of the anti-corporal punishment bill (which covers the home and schools and which focuses on positive discipline instead of hauling the offenders to jail immediately) will help, of course, but then again the main issue will be implementation even in the most far-flung schools in the country.

And if kids don’t know they should not be treated that way, chances are, so do their parents. Some of these parents may themselves be subjecting the kids to corporal punishment—again, not out of a sadistic nature but out of a sense of duty and, to some extent, desperation. Still, a supportive family makes a child more resistant to abuse.

There should be a more aggressive information campaign for the prevention of all forms of violence. Those behind the 2009 study emphasize that involvement of children, parents, school authorities, teachers and local government officials is needed. They also recommend the standardization of the documentation and the protocol in addressing reports of violence.

Schools are where our children spend the most time outside of the home. Let’s make sure we protect them, and enable them to protect themselves. –Adelle Chua, Manila Standard Today

adellechua@gmail.com