A schoolgirl, accused of being talkative in the class, was forced to stand for over five hours outside the classroom after her lips were sealed with an adhesive tape, in a private school in the Noorkhan Bazar locality of Old City here on Wednesday.
Syeda Sadar Fatima, studying in Class 9 at Sam British School, rushed home weeping and reported the matter to her parents. Her father Syed Mujtaba Hussain lodged a complaint with the police who registered a case of voluntarily causing hurt and wrongful restraint (under Sections 323 and 341 of the IPC) against the principal and a teacher. No arrests have been made so far.
Ms. Fatima told The Hindu that when the principal walked into the classroom she was talking to other students. Then “the principal called our teacher Mrs. Sajida and asked her to put an adhesive tape on my lips. I was ordered to stand outside the classroom for the whole day. I could not eat. I was just talking to my friend when the teacher decided to punish.”
“Principal not apologetic”
Distressed by the developments, Mr. Hussain rushed to the school and confronted the Principal. “They were not apologetic. In turn, they threatened me with dire consequences. They told me ‘do whatever you like’,” alleged Mr. Hussain.
He later approached the Dabirpura police with a written complaint.
Deny charge
When contacted, the school officials denied the charge that the girl’s lips were plastered. They said the school did not practise corporal punishment and that the student was only chided for being talkative. “We are running the school with 400 students. We are not that irresponsible. No punishment was given,” claimed Mazhar Ali, husband of Principal. The couple own and manage the school.
Keywords: corporal punishment
@ Raamganesh : Well said.. i felt really sad reading some of the comments..its just disheartening that the people are still narrow minded and orthodox..corporal punishment is not the way of making a child understand the right way..every morning a child should wake up and feel a sense of happiness thinking of school and the fact that he will learn something new and exciting today..it shouldn't turn out the other way..School should be a place of learning and understanding..not a place of brutality and terror..
This issue is a very small thing .No need to think of it and waste the time.
Now it is sensationalised and parent has given police complaint.
There is always a possibility of school management apologising to the
parent. Then the child will feel as if she has won over the school.
She may continue to be naughty and talkative and school may not be
able to do anything. Once again, if the school wants to get rid of the
child, there is always once again the threat of police, media,
sensationalising of issue, etc.
Let us all have enjoiment and school has restricted moral and children
has no Moral.
I feel the principle must have shown better attitude.If mistake happens
then its better to be apologetic rather than short tempered. All these
issues reflects one of series issue of concern i.e strain in cordial
relation between teachers and students. some thing has to be done before
it get worse.
It is really annoying to read this. I think the present generation are
much understanding and if things are explained to them in a good way
they would not do the mistake. Not only that school but many schools
treat the parents as well as slaves on top of us paying high fees. The
teachers or the education officers or the principle can be friendly and
good to the future generation than ill treating kids in the name of
punishments
Iremember my younger sister used to hide behind the staircase every
morning .She refused to go to school and this tandrum continued
until we foundout that the kindergarden teacher used to keep an
adhesive tape on the table and warn the kids that she would put
them on their mouth if they talk in the class.It was thirty years
ago.
very sad to hear this :( Government should take necessary steps to stop
this type of harassment in future and proper psychological training
should be given to teachers.
There is no need for a punishment for Talkative, mouth is to communicate, if they use too much in the class time then they should be warned instead of putting the child with tape and outside the class room for the whole day its stupid. Being father of 2 child I strongly condemed the action of the school management [principal/techer]. There are various complicatons could lead to the child [Girl especially], the school management should be counselled by Psychiatrist for how to handle children. We have been seeing this kind of abusements in India now a days more number which is alarming to the parents. As parents they cannot change the school frequently. Government should take necessary action and punish the schools for this kind of attitude towards children.
@ Raamganesh,
Correction to your choice of words, I never said My teachers abused me and I deny that. I see that all their action was done for my best, They did not get a rupee worth when am making thousands. So teaching is a profession where the ladder stays put and climber gets going up. The question many of us who says the school in okay to do so is this - when did these simple punishments became humiliating and abusing to all those like you. Its because we fail to curb here we end of having students with addiction, stabbing, MMS scandal and what not.
If you send your ward to school, trust the school and respect teachers and their actions, if not go home school. and for heavens dont call this corporal. And in those countries where parents face dire legal consequences, that is where you find high rate or teen pregnancy, juvenile detention, gang formations, high rate of college drop out. So please lets not make India one such.
teachers at first should not punish. because they never realize what
will be the impact on the child. punishments such as impositions should
be given and not any physical strain or embarrassment. this is really
bad on a school to treat their children so.
It is shocking
Only India can you get away with such abhorrent acts
Politicians are getting away with rampant corruption and murder, the police are corrupt, the judiciary is in shambles, the media is struggling to keep up with crime and corruption on a rampant scale in india and now school authorities are oblivious to physical, sexual and Psychological abuse in carrying on in their administration
we hope the media exposes more and more of abuse in india schools. The children are helpless, the parents have no choice and find it difficult to get justice, so now it is up to the media to continue this expose
follow up comment for Saravanakumar. If you gagged with tape for some mins of time....let's see how much time you can spend with that..she just at the class 9th.you should think before comment.
Teachers are just to teach the lessons to children,give the home work.That's enough.if the children does not work or does not follow their rules then they have to punish a little.Even though children are careless then management give the complaint to their parents.That is only solution to that.But punishing very strictly is not good.
How foolish to think that only by corporal punishment and systematic physical and mental abuse of children only will make him a better citizen in the future. I myself has suffered because of corporal punishment since my school is famous for that.Eventhough I have become a succesful professional shining in western world, I am sure by myelf with hindsight I would have achieved same or even more if there was no corporal punishment.I was shocked even in 21 st century some Indians are supporting this kind of child abuse. I think until and then we severly punish few teachers and parents who involve in those illegal activities our India will neve shine and will be lingering in the medieval ,unscientific,untested superstitious world.
This is not a right way to make somebody discipline .This kind of
punishment will result only in resentment and should be condemned by any
civil society. Now we should also see the other perspective that there
is a girl who was disturbing the class. The teacher could have announced
that she will come to the podium and brief the whole class in the last
ten minutes about the chapter. I think that would have done the job.
It is interesting to see several people condoning the actions of
the principal. Some points to them -
1. Corporal punishment and discipline are entirely different things. No one is arguing that the alternative to corporal punishment is to let kids run wild and free to do whatever they >want. The alternative to humiliating corporal punishment is more a humane and compassionate, albeit strict, enforcement of
punishment and penalty.2. Everyone seems to think that when corporal punishment is not practiced, you will make monsters out of children, destined to become future criminals. This is at odds with reality. The consensus among people who study these matters - the child psychologists, social scientists and educationists - is that corporal punishment is not just ineffective but it actively harms children. This is why societies the world over have banned most forms of corporal punishment not just from schools but also from the home.
Why do people feel the necessity to comment and take positions on an incident with which they have no direct connection?
teachers are stated above one step to the god in epics & religons..and they should have more patience than other professionals.But now adays some are behaving like a armed officers..if they cant tolerate a simple student behaviour means...it is d only thing which is not tolerable by all of us...then how can they handle different types of teenage sudents & try to give them a good path in their lives... So i urge these kind of teachers to first learn the art of patience & next they can teach the students...
They can practice yoga also....its good for all...just try & experiene it....
There is no justification for punishing students in a manner that makes
them suffer indignities and embarrassment. It is enough to give
children time-outs (inside the class) as punishments.
My own school used to have "talkative" children stand outside the classroom under the hot sun for an hour as a punishment. There were also other punishments that ranged from beating with sticks to being made to stand on top of benches for "crimes" ranging from talking to coming late to school. This is a shame.
Time has changed and today we say with proud that we are living i00n
the so called age of science and technology where the human mind has
reached its apex of enlightenment but Alas! we are forgetting that we
are human not because of our intelligence only but also because of the
much important thing i.e humanity. Teaching is considered as the most
pious profession and such incidents just shatter the very mind of
humanity and force them to think whether it is the same profession
which once used to be called as the teacher taught
relationship.............
Wo Chahton ke zamane kidhar gaye....
Hai wo loog purane kidhar gaye......
We have to rise above our thinking and should realize that little
minds learns only in an environment where happiness and joy flourish
and not the terror.
@Sriram - You're missing the point. The principal is being widely
condemned not because he merely disciplined a child, but that he
abused and humiliated a young child. Taping the child's mouth,
making her stand for a whole day and denying her food is child
abuse. Teachers may or may not be like a second parent but that
does not give them a right to be abusive. Indeed, parents
themselves do not have that right. In many countries parents
could face dire legal consequences for physically abusing or
humiliating their own children.
I am not sure if you're suggesting that you turned out well
because your teachers abused you in any way, but you cannot
possibly know if you turned out well because of punishment or in
spite of it.
The reason most free societies ban corporal punishment is not
because they are against discipline, but it has been shown and
widely accepted in child psychology, that corporal punishment and
abuse and humiliation are bad ways of enforcing discipline.
Please show some sensitivity: you should mask / grain out the eyes of
the girl, as it is humiliating for her to be pictured before the entire
world. Do not indulge in sensationalism.
Its really stupid to put a tape on a girl's mouth just for being talkative who is an adolosent & going through hormonal changes,instead the teacher & the principal should have behaved responsible & straighten the girl by giving some sort of warning like calling her parents etc. Being a local resident of the city,
i smell some local community politics behind this episode which the police authourities ill find it.However the arrogance of the couple running the school has to changed or else the parents of other children of the school ill step in which ill make them to come on thier knees & apologise publicly after admitting the punishment rendered.
Punishment are meant for the welfare of children. But here it is used
in wrong way. When she was caught during talking in a class period then
it was not that big mistake to give this huge punishment which is even
more for a grown up man and she was just in 9th class. She must be given
punishment according to her age. So i think her father has taken the
right decision by going to police so that such type of incident should
never occur in future.
Wonder how the Hindu managed to take a snap though. If it indeed was taken at the 'scene of the crime', so to say, then it's impossible that the unprincipled principal could deny the charge.
I dont think the student just talking would intense the teacher to punish lik this.she would have continued talking even after principal arrival.but that seal is too much.
students we should not cross our limits
This is ridiculous, some people actually support the practice. If they had to make an example, she could be asked to stand out of class for 1 period (i guess an hr) but to stand for 5 hrs and that too with a tape in the mouth and not allowed a tiffin break, thats sadistic.
The whole education system has undergone a massive change in the last
5-6 yrs. I have met my friends who teach in the schools and they
complain the small 8th - 9th standard students saying they are
drug/alchol addicts. The current generation want to just take each and
every minor issue to the media and make a mountain out of mole. They
can't even sustain a least degree of punishment and there parents
defend them as and when the child complains. Offcourse passing the
highschool and getting promoted to higher classes has become so much
easy and that makes a different issue at all. I doubt the quantity and
quality of mental and moral enhancement the current education system
does to the students.
I remember the time when I was in 11th standerd and my teacher throws his shoe at
me. He made me stands like a chicken and beets me on my back with the same shoe
when I was talking to my friend in class. After that incident, whole class maintained discipline for years. It is okay with me too because it was normal trend at that time and moreover during that period we do not take those incidents to heart because we all know that the teacher always wants his/her student to be at top.
But gone are the days. Everything comes to dignity and in-fact today 5years old child has own prestige and they feel insult when someone scold them. The parents also hike such incidents rather then to settle down the issue by giving advice to their own ward to not to do such mistakes.
This is not at all good in the democracy. Teachers have to punish, but should not hurt the students sentiments.
This news is indeed shocking.Students commit mistakes.But this kind of punishment has to be disapproved.
I think there is nothing wrong with the princiapl and teacher.Every student should follow discipline.If such students will be encouraged,we will have new generation breaking all the rules.
A 15 year is still a child that deserves protection and proper guidance
from the adults in her community. While some action may have needed to
occur if she was speaking out of turn, public shaming; not allowing
access to food; and applying tape to the face are going too far. What
lesson does she learn from this other than fear? And Shashank who thinks
its not a bad punishment needs to re-evaluate his casual stance - if
this had happened to your daughter or your sister would you simply push
them aside and say hey it's not so bad?
This is nothing compared to us when we were made stand like a chicken, head bent in front of whole school. Today's generation has made it a point to take everything to media. I say, there is no harm in punishing to a certain limit, it will keep the children disciplined and will mould their personality positively. But the catch is, after punishment, teachers should pacify them about the incident rather confronting them time and again. The whole education system has changed. We were raised in the system where it was taught GURUKRUPA HI KEVALAM (its all the grace of Teacher). Gone are those days and gone are those values. God forbid.
This is common to student this punishment is too much
[The punishment in itself does not seem that bad, though they should have brought her in after a couple of hours.]
Yet more proof that the Indian enlightenment will not be happening in this century.
I don't know what the school management thinking,but we are going to school, not an army recruitment to punish the students without discipline.The main thing is nobody has right to insult the others personal feelings and attitudes even he or she is a teacher,mother,father any one in the world.Respect the feelings of others.
you are absolutely correct vignesh.......
When I was in school, nearly 15 years or so back, my teachers used to chide, pinch and sometimes cane. I dont think that is any bit a wrong. We as a society fail to acknowledge that teachers are like second parents and a student spends larger part of life in school and they need to learn discipline from there. Many households have both parents working these days, they seldom have time to discipline their wards. Personally if not for my teachers I would have failed in my Xth Grade and not grown up so much to obtain PhD from US University.
So please let teachers teach subjects, discipline, morality - if they fail to do that then make that an issue. Here the student should not have talked in the class. Period.
@shashank
What makes you say that the punishment is "not that bad"? It is stupid
to put tape on someone's face just because they were talking.
Why should punishment be given for talking.This is stupid.These punishments are making our children become submissive and stupid.This punishments terrorize children from thinking.Because of these stupid punishments,children will stop speaking their mind and remain docile and it will continue for the rest of their lives.This is the main reason why no one questions something wrong happening around them.However who gave them right to humiliate the child.The child has dignity and her character and self-respect must have received a deadly blow because of this punishment.All humans who are alive talk.Get over it.
It is not correct to give her punishment.15 years aged girls are very talkative. the principal did not understand students.
Teachers are not the one who own these childrens, they are supposed to have a limit to punishment, if students are going beyond and could not control them by just punishment then they are supposed to hand over them to parents.......
Punishment is meant to be limited, it should give a lesson to student not a mental shock.....
The punishment in itself does not seem that bad, though they should have brought
her in after a couple of hours. The school should just admit that they overdid the
punishment, surely a police complaint is a bit much for this.
I guess the principal needs to go for anger management therapy and in
the mean while the school need to get a new principal.
Girls aged 15 are talkative, nothing new about it
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