“Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child†: The Ban of Corporal Punishment Fueling Indiscipline among Students

Ghana is a signatory to all International and Regional Conventions and Declarations which protect the child from abuse, meanness and callous treatments. To institutionalize child rights, Ghana through the Ghana Education Service and the Ministry of Education enacted legislations which prohibited the use of corporal punishment in all first and second cycle institutions. However, upon its implementation, there has been an upsurge of students’ unrest in first and second cycle schools in the country. This has become a major source of worry to key stakeholders in education including school heads, school administrators, teachers, parents and even some students. This indeed has ignited the need to explore how the ban of corporal punishment has fueled indiscipline among students. The study adopted descriptive survey design. The target population was 5089 comprising eight schools in the Sekyere South and Sekyere Central Districts in the Ashanti region of Ghana. A sample of 975 students, assistant headmasters (domestic), teachers and guidance and counselling coordinators was arrived via mixed sampling techniques. The study established that the ban of corporal punishment in senior high schools in Ghana has fueled indiscipline acts among students. Also, the study found that there are lots of negative consequences such as vandalism and cheating in exams due to the ban of corporal punishment in schools. Again, the study ascertained that teachers have a negative attitude unlike students who showed a positive attitude towards the ban of corporal punishment. The study therefore submits that to effectively resolve indiscipline problems in schools, the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service must involve relevant stakeholders such as head teachers, teachers, students and parents on alternative disciplinary measures that can effectively deal with indiscipline acts in schools.