When You Don't Want To Spank

King Goodwill Zwelithini’s recent comments on corporal punishment divided opinion. Here are ways to discipline your kids without using physical force.

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HE’S the patron of education in a province that has seen several incidents of corporal punishment come to light.

Teachers in KwaZuluNatal have been captured on camera beating their students, and in one district seven were suspended as a result.

But King Goodwill Zwelithini doesn’t seem to see a problem with learners being punished physically.

The monarch recently lamented the banning of corporal punishment in schools at a meeting of principals and school governing bodies from the Umkhanyakude and King Cetshwayo districts in eSikhawini‚ northern KwaZulu-Natal.

“This thing of not disciplining our children is letting us down because children are not disciplined,” he said.

“What we disagree with is, when there is a complaint, that the child was not being disciplined‚ but being killed.”

The rod would make learners perform well, he believes, calling for discipline to be enforced. But this has divided opinion across the country.

According to the South African Council for Educators (Sace), corporal punishment is still prevalent in SA schools – more than 20 years after it was banned.

The latest statistics indicate it topped the list of 593 complaints in schools nationally, with at least 265 cases related to corporal punishment.

The Sonke Gender Justice network criticised the king for his comments. “In contrast to the king’s statement‚ proverbs in Zulu put into question the claim that hitting children is part of African culture.

“For example‚ the Zulu proverb which states: Induki ayiwakhi umuzi [Beatings don’t build a home]‚” said the organisation, which works to prevent violence against children among other things, in a statement.

But what do you do if your child needs discipline and you don’t want to resort to physical punishment? Here are some alternatives.