Recently, a public school teacher who berated her students while on live went viral. Similarly, some years ago, an episode of a TV show drew flak from netizens when a teacher who allegedly subjected her student to corporal punishment was made to choose — to give up her license or to face a criminal charge.
Every time there is an issue pertaining to teachers’ duty to discipline students vis-à-vis the rights of the children to be protected from abuse, netizens are always quick to pick sides. Social media would be filled with shared posts depicting how it was back then, during the time of flying erasers, pispis and pikpik. So I decided, as my first entry in this column or space, to share and impart what knowledge I have on this particular topic.
At the outset, the Department of Education, pursuant to its zero tolerance policy for any act of abuse, exploitation, violation, discrimination, bullying and other forms of abuse, promulgated DepEd Order No. 040 series 2012 or the DepEd Child Protection Policy. This Order explicitly prohibited and penalized in administrative proceedings the following acts: (1) Child Abuse; (2) Discrimination against Children; (3) Child Exploitation; (4) Violence against Children in School; (5) Corporal Punishment; and Analogous Circumstances.
Child Abuse refers to maltreatment of a child, whether habitual or not. Violence against Children in School is defined therein as a single act or series of acts committed by school administrators, academic and non-academic personnel against a child, which result or is likely to result in physical, sexual, psychological harm or suffering, or other abuses that are prejudicial to the best interest of the child. Discrimination against Children refers to an act of exclusion, distinction, restriction or preference which is based on any ground such as age, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, being a child with disability or a child in conflict with law, which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by all persons, on an equal footing, of all the rights and freedoms. Child exploitation pertains to the use of children for someone else’s advantage, gratification or profit often resulting in an unjust, cruel and harmful treatment of the child.
DepEd Child Protection Policy also proscribes the infliction of corporal punishment or what many people refer to as the “traditional way of disciplining learners”. Corporal Punishment refers to any kind of punishment or penalty imposed for an alleged or actual offense, which is carried out or inflicted, for the purpose of discipline, training or control, by a teacher or school administrator. It includes physical, humiliating or degrading punishment, including but not limited to: (1) Hitting or beating any part of a child’s body with or without the use of instrument; (2) Forcing a child to perform physically painful or damaging acts such as holding a weight for an extended period, kneeling on salt or pebbles; (3) Deprivation of a child’s physical needs as a form of punishment; Deliberate exposure to water, sunlight, rain or forcing a child to swallow substances that can cause discomfort; (4) Confinement or deprivation of liberty; (5) Verbal abuse; (5) Forcing a child to wear a sign or to put anything that will make a child look or feel foolish, which belittles or humiliates the child in front of others.
More so, the Code of Ethics of Professional Teachers states that a teacher shall not inflict corporal punishment on offending learners.
In addition to that, the act or acts that are proscribed under DepEd Child Protection Policy may also be deemed as acts amounting to Child Abuse as defined and penalized under Republic Act 7610 or Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act.
Section 3(b) of the said law defines “child abuse” as maltreatment, whether habitual or not, of the child which includes: (1) Psychological and physical abuse, neglect, cruelty, sexual abuse and emotional maltreatment; (2) Any act by deeds or by words which debases, degrades or demeans the intrinsic worth and dignity of a child as a human being; (3) Unreasonable deprivation of his basic needs for survival, such as food and shelter; (4) Failure to immediately give medical treatment to an injured child resulting in serious impairment of his growth and development or in his permanent incapacity or death.
Section 10(a) of R.A. 7610 prescribes a heavy penalty of prision mayor in its minimum period or imprisonment of six years and one day to eight years to any persons who shall commit any other acts of child abuse, cruelty, exploitation or be responsible for other conditions prejudicial to the child’s development including those covered by Article 59 of President Decree No. 603, as amended, but not covered by the Revised Penal Code.
At present, there are bills pending before our legislature which seek to amend Republic Act 7610 as to draw a line between abuse and discipline, or provide for guidelines of permissible methods or ways of instilling discipline among learners. This amendment is akin to Section 2(c) of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 7610 which declares that discipline administered by a parent or legal guardian to a child does not constitute cruelty provided it is reasonable in manner and moderate in degree and does not constitute physical or psychological injury as defined herein.
However, prior the passage of such proposed amendatory bills into law, the law shall stand. Dura lex sed lex.