Is punishment necessay for discipline?

WITH recent instances of corporal punishment stirring up a hornet’s nest, the issue has hit a raw nerve. While it is true that corporal punishment cannot be used as a means to enforce discipline in a civilised society, there are questions that, perhaps, need to be addressed. 
How do you handle a classroom when you have 70 students to take care of ? Even one rowdy or disobedient student can cause enough disruption to ruin a class. In such cases what are the ‘classroom guidelines’ that a teacher should go by? 
Most educators feel that punishment and discipline doesn’t go hand-in-hand. Instead, it can be achieved by re-enforcing positive qualities in children. 
To start with, Lilly Vishwanathan, advocacy manager, project on corporal punishment, Plan India, feels that there is a need to foster a primarily pro-active attitude, empathy from teachers, encouragement techniques and so on — both at the adult level and in adult-student relations. 
However, most teachers admit that initially they warn students, but when things get out of hand, they are forced to take ‘action.’ 
Monika Chopra, a PGT in chemistry from N C Jindal School, Punjabi Bagh, says, “We have a system where we write a note for parents in students’ diaries. Once the student gets three remarks in his/her diary, the parents are called. They, along with the teacher, talk to the child and arrive at a solution.” 
Sharing an instance of good practices, Chopra cites an example of a class IX student, “This child was indisciplined and never followed instructions in class. We could figure out that he had a strong desire for stage and public speaking. So, we made him the class mo nitor as well as the house prefect. This worked and we saw a marked improvement in his behaviour and academic performance.” 
On the other hand, Deepak Dahiya, a teacher with the Delhi Government School, Roop Nagar, says punishment may be necessary. He says, “I do believe in punishing students to ensure discipline, but one should know where to draw the line. Since our students are first generation learners, we have to teach them everything — behavioural issues, discipline and learning.” He adds, “But once I have punished them, I use various therapies to help the child understand why I punished him, so that he doesn’t repeat it again.” 

TIPS FOR BUILDING POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH CHILDREN 

Teachers can use a variety of strategies to build positive relations hips with children and prevent violence within the school environment. To do so, they can: 

• Listen to children and encourage them to listen to others 

• Teach with enthusiasm. Students engaged in work that is challenging, informative, and rewarding are less likely to get into trouble 

• Set norms for behaviour in the classroom and refuse to permit violence. Learn and teach conflict resolution and anger management skills 

• Invite parents to talk about and share their children’s progress and any concerns they have 

• Encourage and sponsor student-led anti-violence activities and programmes ranging from peer education, Bal Panchayats, and mediation to mentoring and training 

• Work with school authorities, parents and children to develop and implement a `Safe School Plan,’ including how teachers and other school staff should respond in emergencies 
• Enforce school policies that seek to reduce the risk of violence.Take responsibility for areas outside, as well as inside, your classroom 

• Encourage students to report crimes or activities that make them suspicious