Corporal punishment is still imposed in most elementary and junior-high schools around the nation, an executive of the Humanistic Education Foundation in Taipei said on Tuesday, citing the results of a survey.
In the poll conducted by the foundation in September and last month, only 4.65 percent of junior-high school students said they had never seen corporal punishment meted out by teachers at their schools, foundation executive director Joanna Feng (馮喬蘭) said.
In elementary schools, the figure was 10.92 percent, she added.
The survey defined corporal punishment as spanking, making students stand still for a certain period of time, making students maintain a certain position for a period of time and having students perform certain actions.
The poll indicates that corporal punishment is used as a way of disciplining students in about 90 percent of elementary and junior-high schools in Taiwan, Feng said.
Although fewer and fewer teachers are resorting to floggings, punishments in schools often include asking students to stand still, squat with their hands raised and run laps around the playground, she said.
Apart from physical punishment, “violent language, which can be far more horrifying than physical violence,” is often used, said Feng, an advocate of the abolition of corporal punishment in schools.
Unfortunately, insulting words like “stupid, idiot, scum and loser,” which attack a person’s character, are still being used by teachers in classrooms, she said.
The survey also showed that about 40 percent of students in junior-high schools and 70 percent in elementary schools have been deprived of a break between classes as a form of discipline, Feng said.
A short break of about 10 minutes between classes is a basic right of students, who need time to relax and go to the bathroom, she said.
“This right should not be arbitrarily removed,” she said.
The foundation urged the Ministry of Education to ensure that its policy of banning corporal punishment in schools is carried out and to discipline teachers who do not comply.
In response, Yang Chih-chung (楊志忠), head of the ministry’s Student Affairs Committee, said teachers who use corporal punishment in schools could be prosecuted or given a demerit.
A total of 1,112 elementary-school students and 1,112 junior-high school students in 22 counties and cities in Taiwan were interviewed in the survey. It had a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of 3 percentage points, according to the foundation, which is dedicated to the development of human-centered education in Taiwan.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
RSS