Shifting the responsibility of discipline onto schools has become a convenient response whenever concerns about children’s behaviour arise. Calls to bring back the cane surface again and again, as if corporal punishment were the missing key to raising respectful and emotionally sound young people. The real question is this: what kind of society are we trying to cultivate? If we want a community that does not rely on fear or force to maintain order, then approving physical punishment in learning environments goes directly against that intention.
Those who argue in support of caning must first consider something more fundamental. Who is responsible for shaping a child’s discipline, parents or schools? The answer is parents. Schools can support and reinforce values, but they cannot replace the emotional and moral foundation formed at home. Handing schools the cane is not a solution. It is avoidance.
Psychologists, psychiatrists, educators and professional bodies have been consistent. None supports reinstating corporal punishment. As Dr Wong Yim Chan of Island Hospital stated, caning does not promote kindness. It teaches fear instead of reflection. It teaches dominance rather than understanding. It tells a child that pain is a reasonable response to frustration. These are not the values we say we want. Yet these are the lessons children learn when violence is presented as discipline.
So how do children learn discipline? First, we need to understand that discipline is not punishment. Discipline is teaching. It is the slow work of guiding a child towards self-control, empathy and responsibility. This requires consistency, presence and modelling. No teacher with forty students can replace the behavioural boundaries and social ethics that must be taught at home. Discipline is relational. It grows from trust, not force.
Children respond when they feel listened to, and resist when they feel shamed or pushed. Effective discipline explains the reason behind a boundary. It helps children internalise values rather than obey purely out of fear. If we want thoughtful, grounded adults, we must teach the meaning behind rules, rather than simply enforcing them.
In organisational psychology, Kurt Lewin’s three-step model of change uses unlearning, guiding through transition, and stabilising new behaviour. This is how adults are supported to grow in workplaces. The same principle applies to children. Behavioural change requires understanding, not coercion.
This is not just a moral stance. It is academic alignment. Behavioural science, developmental psychology and education theory have long moved away from punitive approaches. These are the very principles taught in universities and teacher training colleges. Students in psychology, early childhood education and counselling learn about attachment, emotional regulation and modelling, not fear. If we teach future educators that guidance works better than punishment, then calling for the cane contradicts what we already know.
Even correctional systems worldwide, including Malaysia, are shifting from punishment towards rehabilitation, recognising that shame and force do not produce responsible or empathetic individuals. Our public stance should match our knowledge base and policies.
The cane has no place in schools. If a child repeatedly breaks rules, the responsibility lies with the parents. Teachers are educators, not implementers of pain. When behavioural issues persist, schools should consult with parents and work together. And if a student continues to harm others or disrupt learning, suspension or expulsion is the appropriate administrative step, not physical punishment.
To discipline is to guide, not to hurt. If we want a society grounded in empathy, accountability and respect, we must begin with the children who will inherit it.
Carolyn Khor (carolynkhor@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact creator@newswav.com.