Corporal punishment as a form of physical and mental violence

Corporal punishment is considered one of the most ancient types of human responsibility for misconduct. Ancient people still did not know such a science as pedagogy, and there was no criminal law as such. The beating could punish the offender, the thief, just a hated person. It is necessary to divide corporal punishments into mutually damaging ones - mutilation of human organs or their amputation, for example, cutting off the arm, legs, poking out the eyes, breaking nostrils and lips, castration; Painful - delivering pain by beating with rods, a whip, a stick (in ancient times there were shameful pillars to which the offender was tied and flogged with rods); Confounding - this type of corporal punishment differed from others in that the infliction of pain receded into the background. The main goal was to disgrace the person.

Corporal punishment in school

The world probably does not know the country that would practice corporal punishment in school more than England. Even in medieval schools, beating children was the main punishment among teachers. Students who came to school immediately faced beating. Established in 1440, Eton College, whose teachers practiced cruel beatings, even collected money to buy a rod. Parents rented half a horse in addition to studying, so that the instruments of upbringing were purchased for children.

Director of the college in 1534-1543 Nicholas Yudall was famous for his cruelty among the students. It turns out that he got sexual pleasure, beating up the children. Corporal punishment was carried out not only because of their own anger or the irresistible nature of teachers, but because of the generally accepted nature of the rod. They replaced the then pedagogy, they were popularly accepted method of education.

One day, during the plague, Eton College students were told of the need for smoking to protect themselves from the disease. One student was severely beaten for disobedience (quitting). The director-sadist Yudalla was dismissed for brutal behavior towards students, but he did not sit for a long time unemployed. Soon, Nicholas Yudall led another, no less popular college - Westminster.

Director of Eton College in 1809-1834 John Keith with the help of corporal punishment achieved excellent discipline. Children perceived the beating no longer as a shameful mockery of teachers, but as punishment for an unsuccessful attempt to deceive the elders. Children perceived corporal punishment from China with honor, some boys even bragged about them before classmates. In every yard where students lived, there was a place for beating. The boys took off their pants and panties, went up to the scaffold, knelt on the steps, and lay down on the log with their stomachs. In this position, there was enough room for beating, so the blows fell not only on the fifth point.

History of corporal punishment

In the ancient Greek and Roman state corporal punishment was applied only to slaves. They could be beaten, killed, changed, because their life was worth nothing in those days. The history of corporal punishment in Russia reached its peak in the era of serfdom. Defenseless people were tortured for the slightest oversight, and even for no reason, if the nobleman was not in the mood. Russian writer A.N. Radishchev was categorically against corporal punishment, because equality of all before the law should accompany a civilized society. In response, Prince M. M. Scherbatov expressed his opinion on this issue. He said that corporal punishment should not be abolished completely, but that they should be applied only to serfs and ordinary citizens, but not to nobles.