Corporal or in other words physical punishment is defined as any punishment using physical force ‘intended to cause some degree of pain or discomfort, however light.’ Most of the time, this involves hitting, spanking, slapping either by hand or another implement such as a cane. Corporal Punishment (CP) usually comes to the lime light for a few weeks during the lineup to and soon after Children’s Day celebrations on October 1. Corporal or physical punishment can do nothing about changing a child’s behaviour, says Prof. de Silva. “In the late 80s, may be early 90s, I saw quite a lot of tragedies including physical abuse and sexual abuse. Physical child abuse is an extension of CP because the act is the same - you hit a child.

Source: Sunday Observer November 10, 2018 19:30 UTC