Educators condemn harsh punishment for students

Educators condemn harsh punishment for students

JAKARTA (JP): Physical punishment for students which borders
on abuse must be prohibited as it is noneducational towards
students, educators said yesterday.

Principal of Lab School in Rawamangun, Arief Rachman, said
that mere physical punishment would not make students more aware
of their faults or even change their behavior toward a more
positive attitude.

"Students who make mistakes must be punished, but the kind of
punishment given should be clarified between the school, the
parents and the students," he told The Jakarta Post.

Recently a state-owned elementary school principal in
Bengkalis, Riau, ordered six students to run naked around the
school field as punishment for arriving late to class and
disrupting lessons.

Four of them obeyed the principal while the other two refused
to strip and had their ears tweaked.

The unusual punishment enraged the students' parents who
demanded the education ministry remove the principal for
humiliating their children.

Former principal of SMU Kanisius, JP Drost, told the Post that
he believed punishment in schools should not involve physical
abuse.

"That kind of punishment should be a parent's responsibility,
when necessary," he said.

He expressed amazement toward the Bengkalis school principal's
method, saying that that kind of punishment was very rarely
practiced.

Separately, the director for elementary education at the
Ministry of Education and Culture, Achmad DS, said that there was
no agreement between the ministry and educators on what kind of
punishments should be used toward undisciplined students.

"A teacher should make a sound judgment on what kind of
punishment is to be taken," he said.

Achmad said that an investigation of the Bengkalis school's
principal and teachers was underway to determine possible
sanctions, Antara reported. (09)