Effects of Banning Corporal Punishment on Discipline in South African Schools: A Case Study of Secondary Schools in Sekhukhune District, Limpopo Province

Abstract

The banning of corporal punishment in South African schools sparked an intense debate after 1996. Legislation was put into operation to this effect and educators and all stakeholders in education were mandated to abide. Prior research and literature show that since the abolition of corporal punishment, there has been a deterioration of discipline in schools. This article addresses this argument and through the use of qualitative focus-group interviews with educators, it is revealed that there is indeed a decline in the level of discipline in schools since the prohibition of corporal punishment. It was also discovered that there is a predicament in applying contemporary disciplinary measures due to, among other reasons, a lack of training and in some cases minimal training regarding alternatives to corporal punishment provided by the Department of Education and the ambiguity thereof. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n23p1781