Description of Personal
I grew up knowing that teachers are to be respected at all times. They were powerful and their instructions had to be followed because they were allowed to administer corporal punishments. I remember the day I was punished for failing to address my Mathematics assignment. When I reported the incident to my parents, they told me that I was to blame for having failed to address the assignment. From that day, I learned that I had to follow instructions from all my teachers.
The fear of punishment and the need to not only respect but also please my teachers led to my success in academics. In our society today, things have changed. In the year 2000, the Ministry of Education banned any form of corporal punishment in all schools in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In fact, Kennedy (31) says that corporal punishments were criminalized by the ministry.
The impact of the move to criminalize corporal punishment was felt almost immediately. Indiscipline in schools became rampant. Learners would come to class with fancy phones to listen to music, make phone calls to their friends in other schools, or to show off to their peers. Teachers were left powerless. They could only watch and rebuke them, but it never went beyond that. Most of them have stopped caring anymore.
They do not bother about the discipline of these students as they try to abide by the law. The recent reports indicate that the level of indiscipline in our schools has reached worrying levels. The students have realized that they are protected by the law of this country. They are now attacking their teachers either at school or outside the learning institutions. This is worrying because this level of indiscipline is reflected in our society. This paper shows the relevance of Social Cognitive Theory in the development of children. The paper will explain how observed experiences define the behavioral patterns of children. When they observe that the immoral behavior of their peers earns them no pain, and then find it easy following their footsteps.
Political-Economic Analysis of my Personal Experience
In our society, children occupy a very important position because they are the future of the nation. My personal experience as a child growing up in a strict legal system is still clear in my mind. At home, we had strict instructions to obey our parents and all the elders. At school, we had to obey our teachers and follow their instructions. I remember corporal punishment was not just meant for the students who were not disciplined.
It was also used as a motivation for learners who were slow or lazy in their academics. I remember an incident that happened when I was in elementary school. I developed some unexplained fear of Mathematics. One day I failed to do my homework and when I went to school, my teacher spanked me. This was strange, given that I had never received such punishment before. That day in the evening, I reported the incident to my parents. I expected them to go to school to reprimand the teacher. However, what I heard from them changed my perception about school and life in general. They told me that the teacher loved me and that the punishment was a motivation so that I would concentrate on my studies.
I decided not to receive such a form of motivation again by doing what my teachers wanted. I became top of my class soon after and remained in that position till the time I completed high school. That incident taught me that in our society, there are consequences in everything we do. When we do what is right, the outcome will be pleasant, but when we engage in activities that are unacceptable, then unpleasant experiences are expected to follow. I can attest to the power of positively designed punishments meant to steer a child towards doing what society expects of it.
In the year 2000, the government of Saudi Arabia, through the Ministry of Education, introduced a law that banned corporal punishments. As a person who had gone through the system when corporal punishments were allowed by the law, I realized that this government’s directive was a recipe for chaos in our schools. The ministry worsened the situation by criminalizing corporal punishments in schools. This meant that any teacher who subjected a student to corporal punishment would lose his job and be taken to court to answer to a criminal charge. Teachers’ reactions to this law were worrying to society, and they were justified. The government eliminated the means through which teachers maintained discipline in schools, and failed to provide an alternative.
This meant that a vacuum was left in the system. Students started becoming very rude to their teachers when they realized that they had the protection of the government, through the newly enacted laws. Seven years after the enactment of the law, things turned the other way round. Instead of teachers administering corporal punishments to rogue students, it was the rogue students punishing the teachers. I have witnessed over 7 incidents where teachers are assaulted by their students. In 2 of the incidences, the teachers succumbed to their injuries. The report by Jiffry (par. 3) indicates that in 2014 alone, 300 cases of assault against teachers have been reported.
The political class has remained silent over the issue despite the increasing rates at which teachers are considering other professions. I have noticed that whenever the issue is brought to the attention of the leaders, they give it a one-sided analysis. They insist that the government has achieved a major milestone in banning corporal punishments. However, they do not mention the real impact this has had on the teachers, students, and the education system at large.
The international communities, especially institutions that deal with the rights of children, were quick to praise the political leadership for what they consider a big achievement towards liberating children from undue pressure and torture by the teachers. However, the truth is that things are getting worse and soon the economic impact will become evident. Our institutions of learning are now producing graduates who do not obey the law because they do not know about the consequences of behaving irresponsibly.
I have noted that the number of students who fail to proceed to post-primary education in the country has been on the rise since the law was introduced. If this trend continues, then the country will be faced with a human resource shortage. As Kennedy (62) says, no organization- private or public- is willing to hire individuals who have no respect for the law.
Description of an Educational Issue of Interest
Summary
The issue of interest in this study is the trend in our learning institutions where learners have lost their morals and are now turning against their teachers through violent attacks. We need a learning environment where students not only respect but also cherish their teachers. They should be consulting them on various issues about life. They should look at the teachers as role models and parents at school. However, what we have today is the complete opposite. Students are now attacking their teachers and the law is silent about it. As Kennedy (32) notes, the political class was quick to introduce a law that was seen to be working in the West. However, what they failed to realize is that a vacuum was left when corporal punishments were eliminated. The vacuum has now been filled by the students who have the audacity to attack their teachers.
Research question
The researcher is planning to conduct further research on this issue, and this makes it necessary to develop research questions that will be used. The following research questions will be used when collecting data.
- What is the impact of the elimination of corporal punishments on students in Saudi Arabia?
- How has the law on corporal punishments affected the morale of teachers
- What are the possible alternatives to corporal punishment that can be used to address the current situation in our schools?
Potential sources of information
In order to respond to the above questions, the researcher will collect primary and secondary data. The primary data will be taken from teachers, students, school administrators, parents, and officials from the Ministry of Education. Secondary data will be collected from books, journals, newspapers, and other reliable online sources.
Political-Economic Analysis of the Educational Issue
The issue of corporal punishment in institutions of education has been very controversial in our society. When the law banning corporal punishment was introduced in 2000, things turned out to be worse than expected. According to Greco (par. 2), incidents, where students are viciously attacking their teachers, are on the rise. A report by Jiffry (par. 4) revealed that in the month of April 2011, over 17 cases of attacks on teachers were reported.
The first incident in that month occurred when two students attacked one of their teachers in Bisha town. Two days after this incident, a group of students in the capital Riyadh set the administration block ablaze in order to destroy their misconduct records. This was followed by another incident in Onaiza where students used knives and guns to fight in school. Greco (par. 4) reports that on April 18, 2011, a group of seven students attacked one of their teachers using crude weapons. The assault was so bad that the teacher had to be admitted to the hospital for several months. The attackers left him for dead when he became unconscious. The graph below shows the rising cases of assault on teachers in this kingdom.
This is a clear demonstration of the negative trend that students have taken in addressing their grievances against their teachers. The historical analysis of the teacher-student relationship shows that this was unheard of in the recent past. Teachers were highly respected by the students and it was almost impossible to imagine an incident where a student would attack a teacher. However, this changed in 200 when corporal punishments were banned.
Discipline started deteriorating, especially after the Ministry of Education came up with the law that criminalized corporal punishments. The law demoralized many teachers who became less concerned about the discipline of their students.
According to Greco (par. 3), the decision by the government to bow to the international pressure on the issue of corporal punishment in schools was seen as a poor political move. Many countries around the world have enacted laws that prohibit corporal punishments on students. United Nation agencies such as UNCRC, UNESCO, and UNICEF have been putting pressure on the political leaders to enact laws that will limit corporal punishments in countries around the world.
Although this issue has remained controversial in the public domain, many people, especially the educationists, argue that this was a miscalculated move by the political class. When coming up with laws that have serious effects on a section of the society, it is important to have a consultative forum where the parties that will be affected are allowed to share their views. However, the Ministry of Education enacted this law without consulting the teachers and students in this country. To the international community, this was a wonderful step made by the political class in Saudi Arabia to enhance child protection laws.
However, a new monster had been created that had the potential of not just consuming the teachers and students, but also destroying the entire education system. As Jiffry (par. 5) says, teachers, do more than just impart knowledge to the students. They are expected to be role models. They should help students develop academically and socially. When these students do something that is good, they should praise them in order to encourage such habits in school. On the other hand, when they commit a mistake, they have to be rebuked in order to discourage such practices. This makes them grow up into responsible citizens who know what society expects of them. However, this is no longer the case in many institutions of learning. Teachers have bowed to political pressure.
According to Greco (par. 4), the current trend in our education system in Saudi Arabia is becoming unsustainable. Teachers are strictly concerned with teaching and nothing beyond that. Most of them have now turned a blind eye to the unruly behavior of some of their students. Greco (par. 5) says that in many institutions, things have gotten worse to the extent where teachers ignore cases of indiscipline in schools.
This is understandable given the recent statistics which show that a few teachers who have tried to rebuke students when they commit mistakes are viciously attacked. The government is silent about this issue, the fact that has aggravated the whole situation. The ripple effect of this trend will soon be felt in our economy. We are raising a generation that is irresponsible, undisciplined, and gives little importance to the structures and systems in society. If these students cannot respect rules, regulations, and people who are symbols of authority at school, then it may not be easy for them to respect the systems and structures in society.
This generation will not be in a position to take active roles in the economic development of the country. The country will be forced to rely on the immigrants to work in key positions in the government and non-governmental institutions. Some teachers have even considered relocating to other parts of the world where they feel safe. This is a demonstration of tough times to come.
Works Cited
Jiffry, Fadia. Teachers favor corporal punishment. Arab News, 2015. Web.
Greco, Carolyn. Crushing Activists With Harsh Punishments in Saudi Arabia. Human Rights First. 2015. Web.
Kennedy, Janice. “Increasing number of Saudi teachers is now considering other professions.” Journal of Education 18.1 (2015), 23-64. Print.