Physical punishment in Nigerian secondary school: a children's rights perspective

The research was located within an ongoing philosophical debate between the universality of human rights and theories of cultural relativism. Interviews, school observations, focus groups and open-ended questionnaires were used to elicit information from teachers and students in two mixed gender secondary schools in Anambra state, Nigeria. The schools included one public (government) owned rural school, and one privately owned urban school in order to explore the differences in the use of physical punishment in public and private, and in urban and rural secondary schools in Nigeria. <br><br>The findings suggest that all child participants had experienced and/or witnessed physical punishment.

Abuse of power, physical and sexual exploitations were found in the public school. Almost all children and teachers were unaware of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Nigeria’s Child’s Rights Act. The strong cultural traditions and religious beliefs that continue to dominate Nigerians’ beliefs about physical punishment hamper full acceptance and enforcement of children’s rights principles.

The research concludes that other social, political and economic factors may also contribute to the prevalent use of physical punishment of children in Nigeria. The research suggests that cultural traditions are neither adequate to protect children’s rights nor can bestow on children the necessary security and protection in their communities as claimed by cultural relativists.<br><br>