On the eve of the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup, Brazil has unshackled itself from its horrific past wrongs, turned over a new leaf, and become the 38th country in the world to ban corporal punishment to children in the home and schools.
But any child in Brazil who reads this 'wonderful news' on the Internet should not build his/her hopes up too soon, if the teachers in Brazil are as bad as the reprehensible law-breaking 'teachers' of Bangladesh.
On January 13, 2011 the Bangladesh High Court Divisional bench comprising Justice Md. Imman Ali and Justice Md Sheikh Hasan Arif introduced a similar anti-corporal punishment law in Bangladesh.
The good justices described the barbaric practice as "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and a clear violation of a child's fundamental right to life, liberty and freedom".
The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child defines corporal punishment as "any punishment in which physical force is used and intended to cause some degree of pain or discomfort, however slight," and it calls physical punishment "invariably degrading".
Since the law was introduced in Bangladesh there's been change for the good. But there is still a rogue element among the teaching fraternity who seems to be hell-bent on bringing down the entire teaching profession to their gutter level of ignorance and shame.
There is no evidence anywhere in the world that proves corporal punishment to be good for a child, but there are thousands of studies that show the exact opposite.
Corporal punishment is the ugly festering scab on the Bangladesh education system that some 'teachers' are agitating through their ignorance or disregard for law. The healing process begins in schools with each and every teacher simply abiding by the law, whether they personally agree with it or not.
Congratulations to Brazil on becoming No. 38 on the list of civilised nations.
Sir Frank Peters is a former newspaper and magazine publisher and editor, a humanitarian, human rights activist and a royal Goodwill Ambassador. sirfrankpeters@googlemail.com
