Hi all,

I am a first time parent and my baby started school yesterday.
Like all normal parent I was worried about how the first day in school will be like for the kid,
to my amazement, when I drop my kid in school, there was no temper tantrum, no crying fit, the kid just walked in and sat down in class.

Later in the afternoon when I went to pick up my baby, the teacher gave me a report on the days activities by telling me the kid was just playing and not listening to instructions, that if the playing thing persist, she would have to result to spanking and so therefore she(teacher) needs my approval to spank to foster learning.

I have always frowned on corporal punishment as a parent and coupled with the fact that it is even illegal now in the educational sector.

The teacher told me there is no way my baby would still not be spanked if the child did not listen or adjust, she said some kids are stubborn, bullies and would only listen to corrections when canned.

Dear parents in your children school, do they spank your kids?

When does it become extreme?

Can a child go through Nigerian educational system(primary and secondary) successfully without been caned?

Thank you.

Though I'm no where close to being a parent myself, I always wonder about this too. It's very disturbing.

When it comes to learning, me think it's completely unnecessary to use fear as a tool. Yes, that's what the punishment and spanking is all about, installing fear.

It's very bad and traumatic. I was a victim myself.

See ma'am, all this ish about kids turning out to be bullies and all that is a hoax. Spanking wouldn't stop a kid from turning out to be a bully. It can only accelerate it.

It's very hostile and improper to study under fear. If the staff can abstain from doing just that, take your kid to a much proper school that does.

They don't spank kids in a much more educated and civilized states; like the US, UK, etcetera. And their kids don't bloom out stubborn or bullies. Nah, instead it's the exact opposite. They flare much better and smarter than Us.

My two Cents...

Thanks so much for you response, perhaps, am being too sensitive being a first time parent, I would really appreciate other opinions too.

In my own view corporal punishment is something that should be used only when necessary

even the bible itself supports corporal punishment "if you spare the rod you spoil the child" but this does not mean that you should use it whenever a child makes you mad

ben carson in his book "think big"..talks about corporal punishment..he says that it is something you should do with a frown and a sad heart because you only want to correct and not punish the child
children should be warned and talked to on several occasions before they are punished corporally
therefore nigerian teachers should endeavour to correct the child first before retiring to punish the child so your child's teacher might not be wrong if she's warned your child
you should endeavour to correct your child too to avoid being punished by his teacher