Teachers should respect children
I experience a set of uncomfortable emotions each and every time I read a report about a child suffering from the cruelty of corporal punishment. My heart bleeds for the child and from experience I know the hell they’re going through. I, too, went through similar traumas.
My early school days were far from enjoyable. Getting up for school on a Saturday was not something, which I looked forward to doing. It seemed that any excuse was used to abuse a pupil. Many of us from poorer families were regular victims. I was once beaten to the point where I had almost blacked out because the teacher said my hair was too long; my family could not afford the cost of a haircut. My circumstances changed when I moved to a school in Dhaka. I was shown kindness and encouragement and school became a pleasure.
I applaud the efforts of Sir Frank Peters for being so vocal in condemning the horrific practice and I include him in my prayers. Whether he knows it or not he is an inspiration and hero to all who abhor corporal punishment.
My school days are over, but the bitter memories of corporal punishment still linger and haunt me. I thank him for his noble efforts to try and make schooling for all pupils in Bangladesh an experience of joy, as it should be. Teachers and imams who inflict corporal punishment on children should be sacked and punished.
Adnan Aziz
Mirpur, Dhaka
