Forum: Gender equality must extend to school discipline policies

The recent announcement by the Ministry of Education regarding a stricter framework for student misconduct has sparked significant and necessary discussion across the country.

While standardising caning as a disciplinary option for serious offences like bullying reflects a firm stance, Singapore must assess the unintended consequences of such a policy.

Singaporeans must ask ourselves if caning is truly the right answer.

Mental health professionals have raised serious concerns about the use of corporal punishment in educational settings.

As psychiatrist Jared Ng has pointed out, while physical punishment might yield short-term compliance, it is linked to higher rates of aggression, anxiety and later mental health difficulties.

By relying on the cane to seemingly contain the problem today, we are kicking the can further down the road for society to deal with tomorrow.

Perhaps the most glaring flaw in relying on corporal punishment is the gender disparity in its application. Female bullies in schools are not caned, yet Singapore has not seen the female bullying problem escalate in the absence of physical punishment.

This crucial observation proves that we can successfully treat all bullies in the same way – stopping their behaviour firmly and shaping them to face the impact of their actions – without creating the well-known, detrimental long-term consequences of physical punishment.

Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam stated in 2020: “Every boy and girl must grow up imbibing the value of gender equality. They need to be taught from a very early age that boys and girls are to be treated equally, and very importantly, with respect.”

Can Singapore not extend this mandate to ensure students learn from an early age to respect and value their peers, and not resort to bullying?

Kanwaljit Soin (Dr)