Ethics And Corporal Punishment Within The Schools Across The Globe

Abstract

This paper contains cultural anthropological research on various discipline measures used within the classrooms in India, United Kingdom, China, Africa, and the United States. My recent visit to schools in India on study abroad programs prompted my desire to research across the globe different methods of classroom management discipline conducted within the schools. Findings suggest that corporal punishment is being favored among most countries. Hitting or yelling at a child, a common practice in some schools is not ethically acceptable by me, as an educator, nor by my students who witnessed several incidences whilst in India. We were caught in the ethics verses culturally acceptable norm dilemma. The purpose of this paper is not to devise specific discipline measures at this juncture, but rather to investigate the acceptable practices within the classrooms in the above stated countries. Implications for this only further my ethical obligations and challenges that lie ahead.