Dear Editor,
The Tribune reported on March 15 that one of the students of the Bimini Primary School who was “violently” spanked by a police officer is too traumatized to go back to school.
The Ministry of Education and Technical and Vocational Training should immediately put an end to corporal punishment.
The Bahamian government does not even administer corporal punishment on serial rapists and serial murderers, yet has no qualms using violence on unruly children.
The powers that be need to make it make sense.
Furthermore, many of these public school educators who are parents themselves, most notably those in Grand Bahama and New Providence, do not enrol their own children in the public school system.
Even they don’t trust the system they’re a part of.
Does anyone believe for one nanosecond that an educator will call a burly police officer to beat their own unruly children?
Obviously they have no issue doing so for the children of other parents.
The psychological, emotional and physical scars of what allegedly transpired is not the concern of the Bimini Primary School officials, judging by their cavalier response to one of the parents.
Spanking should be left to the parents, not to educators who are not emotionally invested in their students or police officers who might be upset about their marital issues at home or the situation on the job.
Under these circumstances, these individuals would seem more than willing to use violence on little strangers as a way to vent.
Hence, the importance of ending corporal punishment in the schools.
– Kevin Evans
