Punishment

A traditional Zulu saying runs as follows: 'You don’t build a family through a stick.' 

This might open a discussion on punishment, especially corporal punishment, in African culture. 

Many people - everywhere in the world - still approve of it and use it, mostly because everybody did and does it. The belief is strong that it is the only way of teaching discipline to children and other people. 

Staying in the lodge I had the the luxury of watching a recent movie directed by Quinten Tarantino 'Django Unchained'. It deals with slavery in the South of the United States. It shows the oppression and especially the physical pain of slaves. White people were/are different !!! 
By co-incidence Django the slave is freed. He starts looking for his wife, a slave in another place. 
The movie is full of revenge and the story ends with the explosion of the property of the big landowner. Tarantino is specialized in magnifying killing, shooting, exploding, .... and makes his images with a lot of blood, pleasure and humour. At the same time he teaches us a lesson: 
Oppression and pain lead to violence. Violence generates violence. 

Looking up more information on punishemnt in the African culture, I disovered it is a real topic of research and discussion. I will elaborate some ideas in the course of this week. 

To conclude this message, I present part of the Code for Quality Education in Basic Education recently published by the Republic of South Africa: 

As a TEACHER, in line with the Code of Professional Ethics (SACE)

• teach, to advance the education and the development of learners as individuals;

I promise to:

• respect the dignity and rights of all persons without prejudice;

• develop loyalty to, and respect for the profession;

• be punctual, enthusiastic, well prepared for lessons and of sober mind and body;

• improve my own knowledge and skills base to be more effective;

• maintain good communication between teachers and learners; among teachers themselves; and between teachers and parents;

• provide information to parents on their children's progress on a regular basis;

• eliminate unprofessional behaviour, such as teacher-pupil relationships, drunkenness, the use of drugs, assault, sexual harassment and other infringements; and

• to make myself available for extra-mural activities.