Should children be punished? Definitely yes. All teachers of all peoples of the world are united in this. But each country has its own ideas about at what age this is permissible, and also what the punishment for a child can be. Let's talk today about the punishment system adopted in Japan.
Japan is a country of advanced technology, where incredibly efficient, polite and obedient people live in incredibly cramped conditions by Slavic standards. How do Japanese mothers manage to raise such children? And is their parenting experience acceptable to us? Let's think together.
Life without punishment is beautiful and bright
Tradition is highly valued in Japan. Including traditions in pedagogy. In the works of medieval Japanese philosophers, the dominant idea is that children cannot be punished in childhood (up to 5 years old). Therefore, young children in Japan are not only not punished, they are not even reprimanded. The mother may even apologize to the child for not keeping an eye on him and for breaking an expensive vase. Agree, it is impossible to find such a mother in the Slavic expanses. Don't hit the child, don't yell - yes, that's possible. But to apologize to him...
How children are punished in a Japanese school
In Japan, the principle of collectivism is elevated to its absolute heights. It’s hard to imagine another country in which there would be so many volunteers to play the role of kamikaze... And all because the main thing in Japan is the team, the society in which you live. This feeling is actively cultivated in the Japanese school. They never mention the name of the guilty student - that would be too cruel to him, Japanese teachers believe. Therefore, the whole class is punished. It is interesting that in Japan human modesty is highly cultivated. To be like everyone else, not to consider yourself better at anything, not to “stick your head out” is the main motive for the behavior of Japanese children. If a teacher in a class asks “Who didn’t learn the lesson” and one of the students tries to raise his hand, his movement will immediately be picked up by the whole class. We haven't learned everything! This is both touching and sad at the same time, don’t you think?
But to the question “Who will go to answer?”, even if it were asked, contrary to Japanese tradition, no one would answer. It means “to lean out”...
Japanese children are punished by excommunication
From such a system of education naturally follows a system of punishment: the child is excommunicated from the team. In Japanese villages, for example, they can throw a child outside the door of the house and leave him alone in complete darkness and solitude. Perhaps the most cruel punishment that grown-up children talk about is... tying up a child. To a tree, to a chair in a dark room and complete silence. The purpose of punishment is the same: to make you fully feel how scary it is to be alone, to fall out of the team.
What a contrast to American education, where the cornerstone is “You are the best!” You are the first! Leave the crowd behind you!”, right?
Maintaining discipline is a difficult task, and not everyone can cope with this task. A bunch of restless children can drive anyone crazy and destroy a school in a matter of minutes. That is why punishments were invented, and today we will talk about the most terrible ones.
China
In China, negligent students were punished by beating their hands with a bamboo rod. It just doesn’t seem scary if you don’t know how many times schoolchildren received it. The most interesting thing is that parents only supported this method of raising children. It was canceled only 50 years ago.
Russia
In Russia they used rods to hammer the truth into children. In theological seminaries, people could be beaten with rods for excessive zeal in eating or for not knowing the names of all 12 apostles.
This is how they looked by the way. Rods are twigs soaked in water for elasticity. They hit hard and left marks.
United Kingdom
In the UK, schoolchildren were put on peas. Yes, this is where this tradition came from and quickly reached us; we also practiced such punishment. They stood on the scattered peas with their bare knees. Believe me, it doesn’t hurt only the first 30 seconds, and Russian schoolchildren sometimes stood on peas for 4 hours. Corporal punishment was abolished only in 1986.
Brazil
Children in Brazil are banned from playing football. No matter how simple it may seem to us, for any Brazilian child it is comparable to death, because everyone plays football even during recess!
Liberia
In Liberia, children are still punished with the whip. Recently, Liberian President Charles Taylor personally gave his 13-year-old daughter 10 lashes for indiscipline.
Japan
Those who are experienced in torture are the Japanese. They had many punishments, but the most brutal were these two: to stand with a porcelain cup on your head, straightening one leg at a right angle to your body, and to lie on two stools, holding onto them only with your palms and toes, that is, in fact, it turns out - between the stools.
Also, in Japanese schools there are no cleaners; punished students clean there.
Pakistan
In Pakistan, if you are two minutes late, you will have to read the Quran for 8 hours.
Nambia
Despite the prohibitions, in Namibia, offending students have to stand under a hornet's nest.
Scotland
A standard Scottish school belt is made from thick, tough leather by special order from educational authorities. They usually use it folded in half, and they say it’s better not to try this on yourself.
Nepal.
Nepal. The worst punishment there is when the boy is dressed in women's dress and, depending on the degree of the offense, they are forced to wear it for from one to 5 days. In fact, girls in Nepal are not sent to school; they are considered purely a burden and are fed very poorly. The boys cannot stand such a diet and begin to ask for forgiveness around the second day.
The topic of school punishment is a very old one. Many artists wrote their paintings about this, which allows us to conclude that this has worried people at all times.
Since ancient times the most in an effective way The punishment for schoolchildren was beating. Today, most countries in the world prohibit corporal punishment for children. However, before this measure was adopted, the physical method of influencing the offending student was extremely common. In private closed schools, children were punished cruelly and mercilessly. Unless they allowed the death of students, which could have caused widespread publicity and uproar.
The instrument of punishment in many public and private schools in England and Wales was a flexible rattan cane for striking the arms or buttocks. Beating with a slipper was also widely used. In some English cities, a belt was used instead of a cane. In Scotland, a leather band with a towsi handle, used for striking the hands, was a universal weapon in public schools, but some private schools preferred the cane.
Punishment with a cane. (wikipedia.org)
Corporal punishment is now prohibited in all European countries. Poland was the first to abandon them (1783), and later this measure was outlawed by the Netherlands (1920), Germany (1993), Greece (in primary schools since 1998, in secondary schools - since 2005), Great Britain (1987), Italy (1928), Spain (1985), Austria (1976).
Now in Europe they punish for wrongdoing rather parents than children. Thus, in the UK, a precedent was introduced into judicial practice when a married couple was brought to trial for additional holidays for children. The parents took their sons on a week-long holiday to Greece during school hours. They now face a fine of two thousand pounds and 3 months in prison. Local authorities filed a lawsuit, claiming that the couple deprived their children of the right to education. And in France, parents who pick up their children from school too late face fines. The authorities decided to resort to such measures after complaints from teachers who, together with their students, were forced to wait for hours for late parents.
Harsh morals still reign in Africa. In Namibia, despite a ban from the Minister of Education, offending children must stand still under a tree with a wasp's nest. In Liberia and Kenya they use the whip.
Punishment. (wikipedia.org)
In Asia, corporal punishment has already been abolished in some countries (Thailand, Taiwan, Philippines), and in some places it is still practiced. In China, all corporal punishment was banned after the 1949 revolution. In practice, in some schools, students are caned.
In Myanmar, beating is practiced despite the government ban. Students are caned on the buttocks, calves or hands in front of the class. Other forms of corporal punishment in schools include squatting with arms crossed and ears pulled, kneeling or sitting on a bench. The usual reasons are conversations in class, unfulfilled homework, mistakes, fights and absenteeism.
In Malaysia, caning is a common form of discipline. By law, it can only apply to boys, but the idea of introducing the same punishments for girls has been discussed recently. Girls are asked to be hit on the hands, while boys are usually hit on the buttocks through their trousers.
In Singapore, corporal punishment is legal (for boys only) and is fully approved by the government to maintain strict discipline. Only light rattan cane can be used. Punishment should take place in a formal ceremony after a decision is made by the school management, not by the teacher in the classroom. The Department of Education has set a maximum of six strikes per misdemeanor.
Guilty. (wikipedia.org)
In South Korea, corporal punishment is legal and widely used. Boys and girls are equally often punished by teachers for any offense at school. Government guidelines are that the cane should be no thicker than 1.5 cm in diameter and the number of blows should not exceed 10. Such punishments are usually carried out in a classroom or corridor in the presence of other students. Simultaneous punishments for several students are common, and sometimes the entire class is punished for one student. Common reasons for corporal punishment include mistakes in homework, talking in class, getting bad grades on the exam.
In Japan, in addition to the classic beating with bamboo, there were even more terrible punishments: standing with a porcelain cup on your head, straightening one leg at a right angle to your body, and lying between two stools, holding onto them only with your palms and toes.
In India there is no school corporal punishment in the Western sense. It is believed that school corporal punishment should not be confused with ordinary beatings, when a teacher attacks a student in a sudden outburst of rage, which is not corporal punishment, but cruelty. India's Supreme Court has banned this type of cruelty in schools since 2000, and most states have said they will enforce the ban, although enforcement has been slow.
In Pakistan, if you are two minutes late to class, you are forced to read the Koran for 8 hours. In Nepal, the most terrible punishment is when a boy is dressed in a woman's dress and, depending on the degree of offense, is forced to wear it for one to five days.
Punishment. (wikipedia.org)
In the United States, corporal punishment is not prohibited in all states. Supporters of physical pressure on children remain mainly in the south of the country. Corporal punishment in American schools is carried out by hitting students on the buttocks with a wooden paddle made specifically for this purpose. Most public schools have detailed rules by which punishment ceremonies are conducted, and in some cases these rules are printed in the school manuals for students and their parents.
In South America, the treatment of children today is generally humane. Basically, corporal punishment is prohibited, and the maximum that awaits a naughty schoolchild in Brazil, for example, is a ban on games during recess. And in Argentina, where physical punishment was practiced until the 1980s, the instruments of pain were slaps to the face.
Tatsuhiro Matsuda worked in a Japanese school for 28 years as an assistant director for academic affairs. In addition to the huge number of organizational issues educational process he had to solve difficult conflict situations between students, teachers and parents, the problems of training young colleagues, and reflect on truly philosophical issues of education. Tatsuhiro Matsuda talks about the traditionally high moral standards of Japanese society.
“The hot battle continues in Natal, Brazil, at the World Cup. But media around the world showed one not-so-sporting story from Brazil: a blue plastic garbage bag imported from Japan. After Japan's defeat in the match with Cote d'Ivoire, Japanese fans began to remove garbage from the empty stands into their garbage bags.
These actions of fans are a sign of caring. This is not something you see very often in Brazil, so the response was very wide and one of the reporters from the national newspaper wrote that he welcomed these people and was proud of them. The Brazilian TV channel Globo wrote about the fans: “They were not happy with the results, but despite this, they collected the trash and showed the height of the cultural standard and education. They lost but got a high score in politeness.” The electronic newspaper Forya de Sao Paulo conducted a survey, 100 million readers responded and gave the fans a rating of “model citizen.”
For the Japanese, this is not surprising; such behavior is typical of them, because from school they get used to considering such actions as ordinary. This means that the fans acted on the principle of “make it more beautiful, better than it was” according to the principle moral education, which is the core of Japanese school education.
The education system in Japan runs from 3 to 22 years of age. It all starts with kindergarten, then comes elementary, middle, high school, college and university. In the process of education, moral education is separated from academic education and is designed to teach how to make life better.
Children learn to be independent individuals through the basics of discipline, they learn to be masters of their actions in the basics of everyday life. In elementary and middle school, every week in morality class, children learn virtue through concrete examples. But not only in these lessons, but also at school events, holidays, and festivals. For example, sports holidays are a specific practice of moral education. The teacher has the difficult task of observing and evaluating the efforts of children: children receive grades a, b, c for participation in holidays and events, for neatness, for politeness, etc. (about ten grades!). These assessments are very important for the future: society values activity, participation, independence, cleanliness, honesty, and caring. Thus, while the student's personality is not yet fully formed, it is necessary to lay in it the foundations for one's own moral guidance.
Moral lessons 道徳 (doutoku)
In order to instill the basics of morality, special lessons are conducted. There are also special textbooks that are called textbooks of moral education. One of them has this story:
Yuka-chan is in second grade. On Sunday she went to the store with her mother. “Let's go to the cafe!” – Mom suggested, Yuka agreed. There are a lot of people in the cafe in the shopping center. At the next table, a man was drinking coffee alone. There was a white cane at the table. “What is this white cane?” – Yuka asked. “This man doesn’t see. With a cane he checks whether it is possible to go forward.” Yuka looked towards the stranger again. He finished his coffee and took out a cigarette and began to feel for the ashtray with his hand. But there was no ashtray on the table, and the man seemed to have given up smoking, hiding the cigarettes in his pocket. “Yuka, it’s time to go,” Mom said, she stood up and removed her and Yukina’s cups from the table. The man also stood up. Yuka walked up to him: “I’ll clean it up!” - said the girl. "Thank you very much!" – he answered and smiled.
This story is discussed by children in second grade (7-8 years old). IN elementary school The moral lesson lasts 45 minutes. The role of the teacher is not to say what is good and what is bad, but to teach students to understand and recognize how to behave in such a way that it becomes better. Children discuss situations and make their own choices, deciding what to do. In this lesson they will ask themselves the question “What would I do?” Almost all children participate in this discussion. Those who say nothing reflect. Understanding, compassion, and kindness develop in the child’s soul.
The main idea of moral education is “to do better than it was.” Japanese fans did this at the World Cup because they were accustomed to doing this since childhood.
Before the Second World War, there was a system of moral education called 修身 (Shushin), but it was different from the modern doutoku system because it was based solely on an authoritarian approach. The students did not think or reason, they were simply obliged to fulfill the requirements of the moral code that the teacher told them about, and completely - without reasoning - obey them. An example of this education is the practice of kamikazes during the war. Children learned not to think, but only to obey unquestioningly.
On August 15, 1945, Japan's Second War ended world war. A regime of American control was established in the country, led by General Douglas MacArthur. He eliminated the shushin education system. In 1958, the Japanese government introduced a new system of moral education, doutoku. And it was built on the fact that students themselves assessed the situation and learned to think how to behave. Therefore, in the doutoku system, the teacher says little, the students themselves discuss a lot, talk a lot in class and decide how to behave. In the doutoku system, subjectivity is important, in contrast to the authoritarianism of shushin. This is why children love doutoku lessons; they themselves reflect on life in these lessons. The materials for doutoku are also very interesting. Often these are biographies outstanding people, for example, Edison, Einstein, Hideyo Nogushi 野口英世 (Japanese bacteriologist, died in Africa in Ghana while developing a vaccine. Created a vaccine against yellow fever, was repeatedly nominated for Nobel Prize, but refused to receive it), Gandhi (Indian president and politician, known for his philosophy of non-violence, came to Japan and was very popular there), Japanese baseball player Ichiro Suzuki 鈴木一朗 (in one season he was able to score 262 hits, this record is still not surpassed). Ryuoma Sakamoto 坂本龍馬 (in 1850, this samurai established a new democratic regime, which replaced the period of Japan’s isolation from the rest of the world).
There is also a series of 6 doutoku textbooks. In all textbooks, topics are grouped into 4 sections: “about yourself”, “relations with other people” (politeness, empathy, caring, strength, effort, politeness, public opinion, modesty) “about nature and nobility” (topics discussed: love for everything, for the environment, respect for life, protection and care), “about groups and society” (family, homeland, responsibility, right and duty, legality, work , voluntary assistance, protection of national culture and international exchange and understanding). Each section contains 4-6 lessons on separate topics). Doutoku class is held once a week.
Doutoku.jpg
Dotoku Tutorials
But subjectivity (in the meaning of “independently individually think, reason, make decisions”), the ability to think is also developed in other activities, at sports competitions, and holidays. Not only winning is important, but the ability to train independently, help friends, think a lot, plan, find a solution, learn to cooperate. The teacher observes the students and evaluates them on all these parameters, so doutoku is a combination of lessons and practice. Of course, a teacher’s assessment must be objective; he cannot be subject to subjective assessment or emotions. The head checks the objectivity of the teacher’s assessment and, if necessary, draws attention to the shortcomings of the assessment, points out the need to take into account all aspects of the child’s activity, and not concentrate on his mistakes or successes. There is no place for emotions in education. Grades are made up of tests (80%), 20% are homework, behavior in class, expressing one’s own opinion, keeping notebooks, hard work, etc. But the main thing is tests - objective results.
There is no punishment system in Japanese schools. The student thinks about his own actions, and the teacher observes whether the student thinks or not. If not, then the head teacher asks the student a question about his actions: “What do you think about this. What do you want? and observes the child’s reaction, whether there is reflection (in the sense of thinking about what is happening, reflecting one’s own behavior in the child’s mind). If a child hits someone in anger, first the child is calmed down. Then they talk to him: “Tell me, what’s happening?” This is done in private with the head teacher, a neutral party, in a calm environment. The child tells everything and at the same time thinks for himself what is happening. Every person has good and bad, and the child needs to see the good in himself, so there are no punishments. Neither physical nor verbal. But if the child does not react, does not reflect, then parents are invited for a conversation.
The child says what he achieved by his behavior, an atmosphere of understanding is created, the head teacher does not allow the parents to scold the child. Children do not understand that everyone is bad sometimes and adults should help them understand this, understand the mistake and learn to control their emotions and actions. Doutoku is not an order from above, it is cooperation with the child, on the same level, looking into the child’s eyes, establishing mutual understanding. The teacher must wait for the child to say: “Ah, I understand where my mistake is!” - then this is a success in education. For example, children fight: “He started it first...”. It is important to hear the child’s opinion, his truth: “Yes, you were hit.” In children's conflicts, it is very important to establish the truth, so two teachers clarify the situation with each student in private, taking notes. Then they compare what was said.
The truth is a solid starting point for resolving a conflict. If a child wants to hide something and lies, finding out the truth helps him realize his weakness, he confesses. But the teacher must show each child that he understands and accepts his actions, understands the reasons. But not all teachers do not always remain impartial and do not accept the child’s actions. Then the child stops trusting, and not only the teacher, but people in general. This is not education. Recognizing everyone is education. All people make mistakes - everyone! – the teacher must accept all mistakes. This is real hard work as a teacher. But some children are mentally or mentally ill. In this case, turn to specialists. There are no punishments.
When everything is clarified, parents are notified. The teacher does not decide, the child decides: “I did bad, I did good.” Tears in this case are often evidence of understanding and trust. Sometimes, after ten or twenty years, a good student commits a crime, and a bad student commits a feat, so the teacher cannot evaluate a child, a person, whether he is good or bad.
As for relationships between children, here, as among adults, modesty and politeness are valued. It is no coincidence that in Japan they bow when they meet - bowing means “my head is lower”, “I value myself lower than you”, I respect you. That is why Harry Potter, Narnia, and books about great scientists, writers, and heroes who combine greatness of mind or outstanding abilities with high morality are so popular among children.
There is no difference in moral education for girls and boys. Previously, education was not provided for girls, as in other countries. After World War II, Japan realized the need for education for girls, not without the influence of American views. But older people still often believe that women are inferior to men. So a few days ago, a member of parliament in her fifties rudely berated a woman deputy who expressed her point of view, saying that she supposedly should get married and have children. The media made a fuss and, apparently, the careless deputy will have to give up his mandate, since such statements are regarded as persecution on the basis of gender difference
Returning to our first example, we can summarize. Cleaning the stadium, without coercion, is a manifestation of subjectivity, the ability to independently make decisions in accordance with the attitude of “how to do it better” (lessons of self-awareness - approx. transl.). This is real morality based on consciousness. This cleaning is a symbol of raising doutoku.
About a Japanese girl who was forced by school officials to dye her naturally brown hair black. And then I came across a spread in a magazine with bizarre rules for high schools (高等学校, grades 10-12 when translated into Russian standards) throughout Japan. So, what was the imagination of the heads of educational institutions (all examples from different schools).
- If a student is found to have a hole in his sock, he is forced to buy at least 5 pairs of new socks;
- It is forbidden to come to school with a backpack. If caught with a backpack, the “wrong” bag is confiscated and destroyed, the student is given a paper bag to put things in;
- If a high school student eats something sweet and the teacher passes by, the student must offer a piece to the teacher;
There are many rules regarding hair and hairstyles.
- At the beginning of the school year, measure the length of the bangs with a ruler and write them down in the table. And then, throughout the year, the length is checked for each student, and in no case should one have bangs longer than previously established;
- Long strands of hair on the sides of the face are prohibited. Violators are forced to clean the floors with a rag. Those whose locks have been cut should be pinned with invisible hairpins;
- And at another school, bobby pins are allowed only if the girl has registered them with the management. After registering, be sure to come to school every day with exactly this number of bobby pins;
- Too frilly hairstyles are prohibited on school holidays and festivals (and they are quite popular among the “what region are you from” crowd). Those who are caught are sent to the shower to wash off hairspray;
- Girls are prohibited from plucking their eyebrows;
- It is forbidden for shirt cuffs to be visible from under the sleeve of a uniform jacket. Children are bought uniforms slightly to suit their growth (but I still have a hard time imagining how to ensure that this rule is followed in action);
- Girls at school are not only forbidden from dating boys, but simply walking next to them ( not by the hand! near!) along the school corridor. Violators are strictly interrogated by the teacher;
- It is forbidden to walk on the street ( outside of school!) from a man other than his father. There were precedents for scandals when a girl walked down the street with her brother ( This is completely, completely beyond my understanding);
- It is forbidden to use it at school mobile phone for any reason and in any form. Violators receive a personal lecture on ethics from the school director;
- The use of buzzwords and slang on school grounds is prohibited;
- At school it is forbidden to run along the corridor, even if you are late - a fairly common occurrence, concern for safety so that students do not hurt themselves. And in one of the schools, the teacher shouts to the caught runners: “Stop 10!” The student must immediately freeze in place in the position in which he had to, and wait until the teacher counts to 10;
- When the morning bell rings for class, you are supposed to stop whatever you are doing and start meditating;
- For minor violations of discipline, high school students are forced to rewrite Buddhist sutras as punishment;
- The chalkboard must be washed to such a state that you can press your cheek against it ( To be honest, I can hardly imagine how much time and rags it takes);
- Students are prohibited from visiting fast food establishments, with the exception of take-out food (in case parents ask to buy, for example);
- It is prohibited to work part-time after school. Two exceptions are work for New Year holidays at a Shinto shrine and at the post office with greeting cards;
- And the last thing is a little touching. There is no uniform at school and you can wear whatever you want, with one exception. It is forbidden to come to school during national shoes geta. These are wooden bench sandals, common shoes until the 1930s, photo from Wikipedia.
Since the geta made a loud noise when walking on the pavement, residents of houses adjacent to schools complained at the beginning of the 20th century that the morning march of clattering schoolchildren was hard on their ears. Therefore, many schools banned people from wearing geta (the alternative was soft straw zori sandals or European shoes). Now geta is worn with a kimono only on holidays, but the rules in the old schools remain the same.
It should be admitted that some progress is still being made in the strange rules of Japanese schools. In Osaka, for example, after the spring scandals, many schools revised the rules for the appearance of students for the first time in 80-90 years, in some places the bans on geta and curling curling for boys were removed, in many schools the bans on brown hair and curls for “dyed hair” and “curls created by one’s own will.” And somewhere, on the contrary, the rules were tightened, adding people of color to the list of prohibitions contact lenses and false eyelashes.
