At the Mercy of Our Teachers (Part 2)

The Ideal Child

 Well, one way we can answer these questions is by looking at our most valued cultural standard when it comes to children: the "ጨዋ ልጅ". 

 This standard, which is used to justify corporal punishment, expects children to be entirely obedient and submissive to authority figures; be they parents, elders or, you guessed it, teachers.

As ብላቴን ጌታ ማህተመ ሥላሴ put it:

“ለወጣቶች ዓይነተኛ ጠባይ ሆኖ የቆየውን ከንግግር መቆጠብን ፤ የበኩሉን ኃሳብ ሳይገልጽ ሁሉን ማድመጥና መመልከትን ፤ ድምጽ ከፍ አድርጎ አለመናገር እና መታዘዝን እየተማረ ያድጋል።”

የቀድሞው ዘመን ጨዋ ኢትዮጵያዊ ጠባይና ባህል

  Implicit in this “ጨዋ” standard is the idea that children will only be submissive and obedient to a certain type of authority figure. One that is as distant and unapproachable as they are strict and inflexible.  

  Which is why it is very common to hear this standard being associated with sayings like this: 

“ለልጅ አይሥቁለትም ፥ ለውሻ አይሮጡለትም።”   

 And so, the assumption goes, a responsible teacher is one that is authoritative and uncompromising when they are dealing with a student. This way, a student that is thinking of being disobedient will likely think twice before doing so. For a teacher that is seen as ኮስታራ, inaccessible and tough is also seen as intimidating; especially if they are willing to hit their students. 

 On the other hand, a teacher that is gentle and accommodative is seen as unable to enforce the “ጨዋ ልጅ” standard. Instead, they are seen as being too approachable and easy to take advantage of; for it is assumed that no student will ever obey a teacher that they, on some level, are not afraid of.

As one teacher put it:  

“It is imperative that children are punished. I will beat or scold him within the limit; I will continue with it. Currently there is much emphasis on the rights of children, but they are not aware of their responsibilities. They are spoiling their future. I am where I am today because I was punished and taught good manners as a child. Punishment is for children’s own good.”

 A Study on Ending Physical & Humiliating Punishment Against Ethiopian Children

 But despite all these assumptions and cultural expectations, there are many students that do not respond to our conventional understanding of discipline. 

  So, what happens to those that are not as submissive and as obedient as we would like them to be? 

Our Living Law

 Well we, parents, teachers and elders alike, start to label them.

 We refer to such a child as ረባሽ, ባለጌ or ጋጠወጥ. We do very little to try to understand or help a child when they are being disruptive. Instead, we see their behavior as a direct and dangerous challenge to our authority.

 We confuse them with those children that have a questioning, independent and assertive personality. We insist that both the disruptive child and the independent child are equally disrespectful, misguided and not worthy of praise.

 We tell ourselves that the more children stray from the “ጨዋ” ideal, the more they pose a threat to our collective wellbeing. For a generation that questions, challenges or does not listen to authority is seen as a generation without ግብረ-ገብ; making them unfit for the title of “የነገ የሃገር ተረካቢ”. 

  And so we swiftly, regularly and physically discipline a “ባለጌ” child not just for their own good, but for the good of the community and its moral fabric.

 Now I know that this link between unquestioned authority, our collective morality and corporal punishment is not new to most of us.

 In fact, some of us are so proud of our harsh brand of discipline that we wear it as a badge of honor. We insist that we ourselves are ጨዋ only because of such an upbringing and wish we can return to times like this:

“አጉል ሰዓት ተማሪ ከተገኘ በህዝቡ ሊኮረኮም ይችላል። እኔም ደርሶብኛል። ይሄን ምነግርህ በዚያን ዘመን እያንዳንዱ በእድሜ ከፍ ያለ ሰው ሁሉ በእድሜ ዝቅ ላለው ወጣት ሁሉ ሃላፊነት ይሰማው ነበር። በዚያን ጊዜ እንግዲህ መከባበር ሚባል ነገር ነበር። Hierarchy. ታናሽ ታላቁን የማክበር ግዴታ ነበረበት።”

ፕሮፌሰር መስፍን አርአያ 

  But in our rush to confuse blind obedience with respect, fear with discipline and physical punishment with responsible supervision, we have failed to ask one simple question: 

Does corporal punishment really work? 

Some Harsh Truths

  Well, if you are someone that is interested in scientific research, the answer is very clear: no.

 Corporal punishment has been proven, time and time again, to not work.  It neither improves academic performance nor makes children behave in an appropriate and ጨዋ way. 

  Instead, study after study has shown that physical punishments, especially by teachers, has a direct and negative effect on what researchers call “moral internalization”. Which is a child’s ability to understand what they did wrong and learn, without further punishments, to not do it again. 

As one Ethiopian study found: 

“A large proportion of adults consider physical punishments as an acceptable way to teach children how to behave. However, 74% of the children stated that they have not learned anything from the punishment they endured, and that it would not compel them to stop committing the same offense again.” 

A Study on Violence Against Children in Ethiopia: In Their Words

 Meaning that any hopes of teaching children discipline, manners or ሥርዓት is drastically reduced the moment a teacher hits them. 

 And what do we teach them instead? Well, I will let one researcher describe what many Ethiopian students have known for a very long time: 

“Instead of helping children to develop the desire and motivation to behave well of their own accord, corporal punishment teaches children that it is desirable not to get caught. Rather than behaving differently next time, they are therefore likely to repeat the undesired behavior and use strategies to avoid being caught.”  

A Review of 250 Studies on the Impacts & Associations of Corporal Punishment

  But if you are someone that is skeptical of the scientific community and its well-established findings, it might interest you to know one thing. It might interest you to know that some of our most celebrated cultural figures have also criticized our attitude towards corporal punishments. 

 Whether you are reading ወልደ ሕይወት’s social commentary from the 17th century, ፊታውራሪ ተክለ ሐዋርያት ተክለ ማርያም’s famous biography “የሕይወቴ ታሪክ”, ይድነቃቸው ተሰማ’s ethical treatise from the 1950s or በዓሉ ግርማ’s well-acclaimed novel “ደራሲው”, you will find that each of these authors have not only rejected our harsh brand of discipline. They have also questioned its effectiveness.   

 And it is this overlooked yet enduring tradition of progressive thought that should give you pause. For it reveals that corporal punishment does not always enjoy the type of complete and uncritical acceptance that you might have assumed. 

  Instead, philosophers like ብሩህ ዓለምነህ have long studied such works and have been able to identify what some of our forefathers have known for a very long time. Especially when it comes to the effectiveness of corporal punishment: 

“ወልደ ህይወት እያለ ያለው ልጆችን ስትቀጣቸው ምክንያቱን እያስረዳህ ይሁን ነው። ልጆችን በዘላቂነት የሚያስተምረው የልምጩ ፍርሃት ሳይሆን የሚቀጡበት ምክንያት ነው። ስለዚህ ልጆች ባጠፉ ቁጥር ዘሎ በጥፊ ከመማታት ይልቅ መጀመሪያ ጥፋታቸውን አስረድቶ መገሰጽ ይሻላል እያለ ነው። ይሄ በጣም ዘመናዊ የሆነ ልጆችን የማስተማሪያና የማሳደጊያ መንገድ ነው።” 

የኢትዮጵያ ፍልስፍና፡ የዘርዓያቆብና የወልደ ሕይወት ሐተታዎች ትንታኔ

 But maybe you are the type of person that, despite all that has been said, still thinks that teachers should hit their students. Maybe you still believe that physical punishment is the only form of discipline that our culture recognizes. 

 Maybe you still think that any Ethiopian that is against corporal punishment is acting like a ፈረንጅ. 

 Well, I have one last surprise for you; an insight from someone who I am sure you will listen to.  

 Celebrated for his detailed study of the Amharic language, ደስታ ተክለ ወልድ is a man who is also known for something else. He is also known for his deep admiration of Ethiopia’s academic and cultural heritage. 

 Meaning that you can neither dismiss his knowledge of our linguistic tradition nor question his allegiance to our culture. For this is a man that once said: 

“ያገሩን ቋንቋ ተምሮ ንባብ ከጽፈት ሳያውቅ ፤ ያማርኛን ግስ በማቃለል ግእዝን ደግሞ በመናቅ ፤ የፈረንጅ ፊደል አጥንቶ ምንም ቢያስተውል ቢራቀቅ ፤ የሰው ወርቅ አያደምቅ ፤ አያደምቅ የሰው ወርቅ።”

  But it is in his seminal work, ዐዲስ ያማርኛ መዝገበ ቃላት, that you will find a definition for “ቅጣት” that you would not expect. 

 This definition, as much as it has been forgotten, is important for two reasons. Firstly, it helps explain why some of our most celebrated cultural figures were against corporal punishment. And secondly, it goes a long way in explaining why there are many Ethiopians that, to this day, choose to not hit their children. 

  For in our rush to always equate ቅጣት with physical punishment, we have failed to realize that this word, for a very long time, has also meant:  

“ተመታ፣ ተገሠጸ ወይም ተመከረ” 

ዐዲስ ያማርኛ መዝገበ ቃላት በካህናትና በሀገረሰብ ቋንቋ

Word to the Wise

So, my dear reader, what do you do now? 

 What do you do when you realize that corporal punishment, especially in schools, is both unconstitutional and ineffective? 

Do you care? 

  Do you care that the law, the science, the rules of the teaching profession and some of our most celebrated cultural figures were against corporal punishment? 

 Or are you, just like our judges, one to dismiss all these facts because of your cultural assumptions? 

  Well, if you are someone that still thinks  the only way to supervise a child is by being authoritative, distant and punitive, I hope you take the time to reflect. Reflect on what we mean when we use words like “ሥርዓት”, “ጨዋ” and “ቅጣት”. 

 Reflect on your own childhood and appreciate the fact that just because something happened to you does not mean that it should also happen to your child. 

  And if you truly believe that you turned out okay, I hope you have the fortitude to ask yourself this important question: 

  Do you want your child to be like you or do you want your child to be better than you? 

  But if you are the reflective type, I hope you take the time to consider the many reasons why teachers are forbidden to hit their students.   

  I hope you appreciate those lawmakers, researchers and cultural commentators who have challenged some of our deeply held assumptions. Especially our assumption that physical punishments are the only form of ቅጣት children understand. 

  And as much as we enjoy labeling such Ethiopians as being too foreign or too progressive for our culture, I hope you bear in mind one thing. I hope you bear in mind that our culture, as conservative as it is, is not as uniform as you think it is. 

  For if you take the time to explore our culture, rather than weaponizing it, you will find that our forefathers also said this: 

“ካዋቂ ፥ ጠያቂ።”

  And the more you read the likes of ወልደ ሕይወት, ፊታውራሪ ተክለ ሐዋርያት ተክለ ማርያም, ይድነቃቸው ተሰማ and በዓሉ ግርማ, the more you realize that being against corporal punishment does not make you a “bad” Ethiopian. 

It just makes you an informed one. 

For More on the Resources Used for This Work, Visit Gudu’s Catalogue by Clicking Here.