Beating students should never be a way to discipline them— Leila Djansi

Movie maker Leila Djansi has backed Yvonne Nelson’s position on teachers beating students.

She is of the view that the option of beating students is tantamount to laziness and cannot be equated to discipline.

To her, it is evident that beating students has not contributed anything positive into the lives of the Ghanaian and therefore it is imperative to adopt new ways of disciplining students.

In a post shared via social media she said “Another Ghanaian drama. I agree with Yvonne Nelson. No teacher has a right to vent their frustrations on someone’s child and hurt them in the process. None.

For decades, teachers in Ghana have been beating students. Let me ask, what has it produced?

Let me know when I touch on expert manufacturing, world-class healthcare, or tech innovation.

Meanwhile, in countries where children are not beaten till they bleed, you’re lined up outside their embassies chasing greener pastures.

So, after all the lashes, you still don’t have greener pastures?

Violence isn’t discipline. It’s laziness.

Your job as a teacher is to master the art of gradual release, to inspire, to correct with intention, not arm yourselves with multiple whips and be proud the students consider you wicked. What kinda low self esteem is that? Go teach Yale.

Want discipline?

Build a school garden and have them work there. Assign detention. Have them scrub walls, pick weeds, write reflections.

Train their minds, don’t traumatize their souls.

Here are some statistics:

UNICEF studies show that children who experience corporal punishment are more likely to suffer from low self-esteem, anxiety, and depression, and less likely to develop strong social and academic skills.

• In Finland, where physical punishment in schools has been banned since the 1980s, they consistently rank in the top 5 globally for education and they don’t beat children.

• Ghana, on the other hand, ranks low on the Global Education Index and struggles with basic literacy and numeracy rates in many regions, even after all the beatings.

Maybe we should investigate why/how YOU ended up in teachers training.

Violence against children should NOT become the default for your own inabilities.