It used to be fun when in
those days, the fear of school teachers was the beginning of a good, intelligent and respectful child (pupil or student).
Parents would at the slightest stubbornness or disobedience exhibited by a child threaten the child with reporting the act to his or her teacher and the child/student would as a matter of necessity repent of his or her actions and never dream of repeating it.
And of course, I could say that the teachers and indeed schools then, were turning out level eyed and headed students who can always be relied on by both parents and teachers anytime, anywhere in almost every aspect of domestic and educational activities.
Students then were hardworking, obedient and true to their duties. The teachers would depend on them for handcrafts like brooms, dusters and even canes which the students, in order to avoid the punishment of the teacher would make available for the teachers even when they know that the cane in particular would function at their detriment.
And it was all from and cordiality between students, teachers and parents irrespective of ethnic group.
Can these be said of being common among the trio-students, teachers and parents considering the era as that of ‘who be who’ in almost every strata?
It has become the in thing among students and even pupils in recent times to have a health condition that would impede the least punishment on them by their teachers despite their faults. They hide under such conditions to perform all manner of arrogance, disrespectfulness and pride yet, being above the law of the teacher and or school and even more so when the question comes ‘do you know my parents? Thus, it is better still to feign it even when it is not there and only God would save that teacher that would defy the rules and go ahead to punish the student.
Thus, in today’s scenario, the fear of meting any firm of punishment on a student by a teacher is the beginning of his or her continued earning of daily bread, devoid of threats and harassment from phone calls and thugs.
This was almost the case at the Community Secondary School, Nkpor, Rumuolumeni, Penultimati Thursday when it was news all over the air that a teacher had flogged a student to death.
When The Tide education Desk visited the school, it was discovered that the child/student only feigned having on health condition of epilepsy which would have resulted to death out of a two strokes of the cane by the teacher.
The Principal of the School, Mrs Whiliki-Ichemati J.A. explained that the female students, who is in the Senior Secondary one (SS1) was punished alongside other girls of the class with two strokes of the cane and she pretended having collapsed.
According to her “It is very unfortunate how children today delight in health conditions. When they know that they have such problem, they chose to disrespectfully teachers. This particular student is fond of doing this. She is not the one with the health condition rather it is her sister who is also in the same class with her and this is the fourth time the school had taken them home on such scenarios.
Explaining the cause of the action, Whiliki-Ichemati said “prior to the day of the incident, the teacher entered the class and could not find a duster to dust the board. She singled out all the girls and demanded that each of them bring a duster the following day. On this day, she entered and still there was no duster. The teacher decided to flog each of them with two strokes of the cane at their backs”.
She continued “this student in question came into the class late and met the punishment. When it got to her, she asked that she be glogged her palm but the teacher insisted on her back because of course, you can’t show one love and the others hatred. Having being flogged on her back, she started rolling on the ground”.
“There was an uproar and we all rushed in and tried to calm her. At first, we wanted to fake her to the hospital but on a second thought, decided to watch her and for more than one hour we saw that nothing was wrong with her and no medication was given to her and then, we took her to her house”. Today she is in school hale and hearty. I asked if she was given any medication and the sister said no”.
The Principal said “I was surprised when the mother of the student came and demanding to see the teacher and all of that. In fact, what we see and experienced now in the school system is much that we cannot explain them”.
The question is ‘were the child to be flogged by her own parents with two strokes of the came, would she have to roll on the ground and as far as causing such scene and uproar?
Mrs Ichemati noted with dismay the high level of disobedience and pride exhibited by students all in the name of health conditions and urged parents to ensure that they take proper care of their children before sending them to school or even keep them from school to avoid such threat on teachers and schools.
In a chat with some teachers and principals of some schools in Port Harcourt, The Tide’s Education desk has discovered that flogging of students has died in schools and replaced with picking, cleaning or weeding all in the bid of not failing victim of circumstance.
The truth remains that when students feign or even capitalize on a present health condition to act otherwise in schools and parents stand behind them even to victimizing teachers, the result is indiscipline and social waywardness among our children.
Do you bet this as the nothing today especially amongst the so-called influentials of any given segment?
I’m also tempted to ask ‘in those days when corporal punishment was the order of the day in schools, were there no health conditions among the students?
It is worth pondering on for the good upbrining of our, children.

 
Lady Godknows Ogbulu