Nigerian Parents and their undying love for corporal punishment

I  know that just like me, some people must have wondered why most of our Nigerian Parents seem to be so into corporal punishment. I  cannot say with a clear conscience however if i believe such punishments are meant to correct and deter an errant child from continuing in whatever wrong act may have warranted such punishment or if it is done merely as a sort of vengeance on the child for whatever reason .

The other day on TV during a street talk program, people were asked when they thought parents should stop using corporal forms of punishment like canning   and beating. Most responses were funny. Some people settled for 18 years, some 16 years and so on. The most striking response however was that of a woman who said, "Ah! Nothing like age for there o. I go beat my pikin until e get sense as long as he still dey my house even if na 25 years im be."  Lol ... This is outrageous. Isn't 25 years a way  over the edge? What would you want to be beating a 25 years old person for?

Now, the question  is not even if parents should administer or permit corporal punishment. There are several divergent schools of thought on that one. Personally though, being the typical Nigerian that i am, and being also that I have been corporally punished on several occasions in the past , i think there is nothing wrong in hitting a child when necessary if it is done mildly and it doesn't cause any serious physical injuries.  That's the catch.  That not withstanding, beating a child after a  particular age should be seriously discouraged.

Some parents go to the extreme in "disciplining"  their wards. Some punishments are so violent, they leave permanent scars. I thought the aim of punishment was to correct? What then is the use of leaving permanent reminders of mistakes on your child? They try to justify it by quoting the "spare the rod and spoil the child"  thing. Even the Bible limits the use of the  rod to a child!  In other words, if the person is no longer a child, corporal punishment must  be done away with totally.

Personally, i'll go with age 12. Corrections after a person clocks 12 years   should and must be done verbally or through any of the other available and equally- if not more effective- means such as withholding privileges. Okay, maybe a slap or two once in a while but not that thorough canning thing parents just seem to enjoy doing. There's nothing any corporal punishment will change after age 12 in my opinion  except to strain the relationship between the  parents and their children. Plus the really extreme ones have psychological effects.

Then there are those siblings and weird neighbors who take it upon themselves to "discipline" siblings and neighbor's kids. How awkward can it get? Who send you message? Parents should never allow this, please. It's wrong for too many reasons.

I'll conclude with this:
If it isn't mild, if the receiver isn't a "child"  and if such punishment isn't administered by the parents, then  corporal punishment should be done away with. Children should be brought up with love rather than cruelty. Earn their respect rather than make them fear you. There are a thousand and one other ways to deter bad behavior. Physical brutality is not our culture. Let's frown at it.

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