Corporal Punishment and the Filipino

Children: The Students Perception of

Child-Rearing, Anti-Corporal
Punishment Bill, and Alternative Ways of
Disciplinary Method

Submitted by:
Mijares, Jonas D.
Casipit, Mark Angelo A.
Balmes, Gabriel Jordan B.
Zaldivar, James Erick C.
EMCDA - Y22

Submitted to:
Ms. Agatha Cristie A. Saguid
Instructor

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Introduction (pp. 3-5)

II. Methodology (pp. 6-7)

III. Results (pp. 8-12)

IV. Discussion (pp. 13-14)

V. List of Tables: (p. 15)

- Table 1. The considered head of the family by the respondents.

- Table 2. Respondent's idea of corporal punishment.

- Table 3. The frequency of corporal punishment administered to respondents.

- Table 4. Respondent's opinion on how corporal punishment will affect their relationship
toward parents/guardians.

- Table 5. Respondent's opinion on corporal punishment as a disciplinary method.

VII. List of References (p. 16)

VIII. List of Appendices (pp. 17-20)

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 INTRODUCTION:

Raising a child has never been an easy task. It is one of the most challenging role a coup
le must face when it comes to building a family. One common factor to consider as a parenting b
ody is to deal with good behavioral growth of a child. Thus, disciplinary methods are applied thro
ugh the process.

A disciplinary method is a process of teaching a child what type of behavior is acceptable

and what is not and also giving a child a sense of knowledge about right and wrong (WebMD, 20
15, para. 3). In other words, disciplinary methods teach a child to obey rules in order for them to
obtain proper behavior. An effective disciplinary method may come in a variation of tools such as
providing positive reinforcement, modeling right behavioral traits, and being a loving and support
ive family. However, some parents believe that punishments are also effective tools in child-reari
ng.

A good example of punishment done especially by Filipino parents to provide learnings t

o children is the practice of corporal punishment. The Committee of the Rights of a Child in the G
eneral Comment No. 8 defines 'corporal' or 'physical' punishment as "any punishment in which p
hysical force is used intended to cause some degree of pain or discomfort, however light" for cor
rection of a child's behavior. Other non-physical forms of punishment that belittles, humiliates or
threatens the child can also be a form of corporal punishment.

According to a survey conducted by Save the Children United Kingdom (2005), 85% of c
hildren in the Philippines experience corporal punishment at home and that the most common ty
pe of punishment is spanking (65%). Aside from this, a majority of the children interviewed (82%
) also reported that they had been hit on different parts of their bodies. It was also reported that 7
5% of Filipino children who participated in the study said that they had been spanked, while in te
rms of verbal or emotional punishment, yelling or screaming was the most common form. On the
other hand, eighty-two percent (82%) of Filipino mothers interviewed admitted to having shouted
at their children, while almost half (48%) said that they have threatened their children with aband
onment. These findings were confirmed by The World Report on Violence and Health (2002).

As stated by Save the children Sweden (2005), the constant use of corporal punishment i
s reinforced by cultural beliefs. These includes the belief that: (1) Children are born without the s
ense of right and wrong so it must be taught through physical means. (2) They have no knowled

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ge of the world so that they cannot make correct decisions by themselves and they should not s
hare their opinion. (3) Parents/adults must exercise their power to rule over younger ones in ord
er for them to feel their superiority. (4) Parents believe that their children owe their lives to them,
thus, giving them a psychological thinking that their children are their property. (5) Parents who a
lso happened to experience corporal punishment when they were young tend to persist it from g
enerations to generations.

The continuing use of corporal punishment by most parents has different effects on their
children. Either short-term or extended, corporal punishment has its positive and negative effect
s. Some parents consider it as an effective disciplinary method that gives them full control over t
heir children's behavior. It makes their children more docile. A child is expected to behave when
under disciplinary action and respect the one who administers it. It makes the child see the cons
equences of their actions and dissuades them from repeating another mistake. Parents also get
short-term compliance from their children after disciplinary action (Gershoff, 2002). However, cor
poral punishment has its disadvantages.

Gershoff's studies (2002, 2010) show that it can affect both the parents' and children's be
havior negatively. Corporal punishment can be considered degrading and scarring to children. P
arents administering corporal punishment are prone to abusing their children especially when at
the height of anger. This includes physical, verbal and emotional abuse that can traumatize child
ren. Children who experienced corporal punishment are more likely to administer it in the future.
When used excessively, corporal punishment can also inflict long-term effects on children's beha
vior (Machenbach, Ringoot & Tiemeier, 2014) such as depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, anti
social behavior and violence.

In relation to this, Anti-Corporal Punishment Bill must be passed in the Philippines alongs
ide the existing Positive and Non-violent Discipline of Children Act in order to protect juvenile fro
m the hazardous effect of this disciplinary method. Corporal punishment can be described as on
e of the darkest parts of Filipino culture especially when abused. With a bill like this in the system
, children can be secured from all forms of violence. According to Filipino child-led organizations
(2015), "It is the key to completely end corporal punishment or the harsh disciplining, humiliation
, and punishment of children - so that no child will be hurt," The Anti-Corporal Punishment bill sta
tes that, it would be liable to the existing penal laws if the offender did commit corporal punishme
nt or degrading punishments to the child. If the offender is a parent or has a parental authority to

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the child, the said parent will be suspended from its parental authority due to violation of Executi
ve Order No.29, also known as the Family Code of the Philippines.

Moreover, since it has been proven based on statistics that corporal punishment is being
widely practiced in the Philippines, and that it appears to have more negative impacts, some alte
rnative ways of disciplining the youth according to The American Academy of Pediatrics, the Am
erican Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the National Mental Health Associati
on are present such as: (1) Rewarding of good behavior. (2) Making the child understand the log
ical consequences of bad behavior. (3) Taking away privileges (4) Another way of disciplining ch
ildren through calling time-outs. It is when a child is safely isolated from his/her family or friends f
or a short period of time. This gives the child a time to cool off. After the time-out, the parent and
child can discuss the problem and how to solve it.

The youth must be guided through proper parenting. Despite being widely used by most
Filipino parents, corporal punishment affects children negatively more than it does positively. Ho
wever, alternative ways can be used instead of corporal punishment in bettering child-behavior.

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 METHODOLOGY:

This study was conducted in order to assess the current situation of corporal punishment
in the Philippines. The focus of the assessment is to understand its nature and various point of
view in Filipino homes and to formulate an alternative way in disciplining children.

To achieve this vision, 15 students from Far Eastern University were randomly recruited
to participate in the study. The ratio of n = 9:6, where 9 = female respondents and 6 = male
respondents. Their age ranges from 18-19 years old.

The survey-questionnaire method was the research instruments basis for data-gathering.
It was administered around 2:30-3:00 pm at FEU Technology Building, 4th and 8th floor. All
subjects were given the same exact set of self-administered questionnaire to answer.

The questionnaire was structured in such a way that respondents will be able to answer it
easily. Thus, the set of questionnaire was structured using the combination of two kinds of
question: the open-ended and closed-ended format.

The participants answers were also secured by giving them an option to indicate their
name or not on their information. However, their age, year/course, and gender was asked for the
benefit of a precise data gathering. A highlighted instruction was also given to lead the participant
in answering the survey correctly.

A total of 10 questions were given to test the participants knowledge and to get their
opinion about the topic. However, originally, the research team have come up to total of 15
questions but lately decided to removed 5 questions in order to not overwhelm the participants
about the length of the survey. At the end of the deliberation between the team, the top 10 best
questions were remained to provide an honest and credible result.

The data gathering went at ease. It was 2:30 pm when the research team decided to
conduct a survey. The search for random participant became tranquil mainly because most
students were relaxing at the corridor of FEU Technology Buildings 4th and 8th floor while waiting
for their next class. However, in approaching the chosen subject, the team had to be selective
based on the respondents appearance. The mood, their facial expression, and the teams feeling
if they are going to take the survey seriously had to be considered in order to come up with a valid
and reliable output.

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 The target of the team is to avoid a subject of larger group in order to keep the respondents
away from basing their answer to the answer of their colleagues. With this technique, the team
may come up with different point of view and various perspective regarding the research topic.

During the administering of research instrument, the team had to be attentive and
cooperative whenever there are questions asked by the respondent. When the subject finished
the questionnaire, it will be compiled together with other survey forms which will be deliberated
afterwards.

The efforts in reducing biases in analyzing and tabulating the data were quite handy. First,
the team tried their best in order to sidestep the research in their own personal convenience by
selecting respondents randomly. With this method, they are not going to have presumptions about
what their respondents might answer. Second, by sticking to what the data shows and not
manipulating the results by favoring their own stand. Lastly, by manually tallying the preset of all
close-ended questions to get the specific result without any add-ons and prudently making use of
emergent codes as per method in categorizing the data.

However, the team has slightly encountered some problems in gathering the data. Some
of these includes: (1) The weather on the day that the survey had been conducted. The team
badly wanted to outsource ideas from the FEU Main Campus, but the rain does not seem to stop
from pouring so the location became limited. (2) The time setting. Since 2:30 pm is allotted more
on siesta time, a lot of students wanted to relax and not be disturbed with the teams research
instrument. (3) The short time given to process the whole research. The team felt a little bit
restricted on doing more research starting from collecting information about the research topic up
to the end of organizing the data and getting the final output.

Nevertheless, the whole procedure of data collection by the team has required an
undemanding and stress-free process.

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 RESULT:

After the conducted survey at FEU Technology Buildings 4th and 8th floor through the use
of formulated research instrument and with a total target of 15 subjects, a collection of data has
been gathered. In this section, the accumulated information will be evaluated and categorize
thoroughly.

The sequence of material will follow the chronological order of the research question.

1.) The type of family that the respondents have:

Out of 15 students, the data states that majority of the respondents (12 Participants) have
a Nuclear-type of family while other subjects (3 Participants) belong to the Extended-type of family
in which they are living with their relatives.

2.)

Table 1. The considered head of the family by the respondents.

80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
Father
50.00%
Mother
40.00%
Grandfather
30.00%
Grandmother
20.00%
Others
10.00%
0.00%
Considered head of the family of the respondents

This graph shows that the majority of the respondents (73.33%) have considered their
father as the head of their family while 13.33% of them have considered their mother as the head
of their family. On the other hand, 6.67% of the respondents considered their grandfather as the
head of the family. However, this graph also shows that none of them have considered their

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grandmother as the head of their family while 6.67% of the respondents said that they live by
themselves.

3.)

Table 2. Respondent's idea of corporal punishment.

50.00%
45.00%
40.00%
35.00%
Scolding
30.00%
25.00% Spanking
20.00% Grounding
15.00% Others
10.00%
5.00%
0.00%
Respondents' idea of corporal punishment

The students perception about corporal punishment have been shown on the graph
above. It states that majority of the respondents (46.67%) believe that spanking is a common form
of corporal punishment. Grounding, on the other hand, was believed to be a form of corporal
punishment (40%) next to spanking while scolding is the least considered (13.33%) form of
corporal punishment.

4.)

Table 3. The frequency of corporal punishment administered to respondents.

60%

50%

40%
Always
30% Sometimes
20% Seldom
Never
10%

0%
The frequency of corporal punishment administered to
respondents

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 Respondents were asked how frequent have they experienced corporal punishment. In
this graph, it shows that majority of the them (53.33%) sometimes experienced corporal
punishment while some (33.33%) said that they seldom experienced corporal punishment. There
are also respondents (13.33%) who said that they have never experienced corporal punishment
at all. Thus, none of the respondents experience corporal punishment always.

5.)

Table 4. Respondent's opinion on how corporal punishment will affect their relationship
toward parents/guardians.

70%
60%
50%
40%
Positively
30%
Negatively
20%
10% Never experienced
0%
Respondents' opinion on how corporal
punishment affects their relationship toward their
parents/guardians

The students were asked what will be the effect of corporal punishment towards their
relationship to their parents/guardian. In this graph, it shows that majority of the respondents
(60%) considered that corporal punishment affects their relationship toward their
parents/guardian in a positive way. On the other side, some of them (33.33%) have considered
that corporal punishment affects the relationship in a negative way. However, the other 13.33%
of the respondents said that they never experienced corporal punishment before and thus cannot
give an opinion.

6.) The respondents honest opinion if they have administered corporal punishment toward
others and to whom did they applied it.

The data gathered states that most of the respondents have administered corporal
punishment toward their brothers (7 Participants). Some of them stated that they administered it

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to their sisters (3 Participants) while one of them has been certain to administered it to his cousin.
However, some of the subjects have declared of never applying corporal punishment to anyone
(4 Participants).

7.)

Table 5. Respondent's opinion on corporal punishment as a disciplinary method.

80%
70%
60%
50% strongly agree
40% agree
30% disagree
20%
strongly disagree
10%
0%
Respondents' opinion on corporal punishment as a
disciplinary method

Corporal punishment is a disciplinary method that is being practice worldwide. In relation

to this, the graph above has stated how many respondents are in favor of the use of corporal
punishment and it shows that majority of the them (73.33%) have agreed on the use of corporal
punishment. 20% of the respondents have strongly agreed while only 6.66% of the respondents
have disagreed on the use of corporal punishment while none of them seem to strongly disagree.

8.) Students standpoint on practicing Corporal Punishment when they become parents:

Regarding the practice of corporal punishment when becoming a parenting body

someday, majority of the respondents (13 Participants) agreed about using it as a form of
disciplinary method. The most dominant idea for them is due to the spirit of disciplining their
child/children for its own good. Below are some of the following comments from the respondents
that support/illustrate this analysis:

- Yes, because its for their own good.

- Yes, so that the children will be disciplined.

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 Corporal punishment as a necessity in teaching a lesson:
- In order for them to understand the problem of a particular situation.
- Because the child will learn from the punishments, so that he/she would realize that
he/she was doing is wrong.

However, there are some respondents (2 Participants) whos notwithstanding regarding

the use of corporal punishment as a disciplinary method because for them, it might traumatize
their child/children and believes that a child can understand through reasoning.

- It can be traumatic to the person.

- I will make my children understand through reasoning.

9.) The sentiment of the students about passing an anti-corporal punishment bill:

The data states that majority of the respondents (10 Participants) is not in favor on
passing a bill against corporal punishment. Nonetheless, some of the respondents (5 Participants)
support this idea and 2 of them have strongly agreed to it.

10.) The good alternative to corporal punishment:

By the accumulated data, it states that majority of the respondents have decided that a
good alternative to corporal punishment is the practice of discussing a problem with a total of 12
participants in it. Some of them, however, have chosen grounding as an alternative to corporal
punishment (3 Participants).

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 DISCUSSION:

The youth must be guided through proper parenting. Despite being widely used by most
Filipino parents, corporal punishment affects children negatively more than it does positively. Ho
wever, alternative ways can be used instead of corporal punishment in bettering child-behavior.

In this section, it must be taken into account that the majority of the respondents who par
ticipated in the research belong to a nuclear-type of family (12/15 Participants). Therefore, it is n
eeded to consider that most of them is living with a typical Filipino home, giving this instrument a
stronger concentration about the study of corporal punishment within the household. Moreover, i
t is still the father that top the poll about who is leading a family (73.33%).

In relation to this, the study has shown a great significance on the students perception a
bout the research topic because of their background information.

Their most common idea about corporal punishment is spanking. Hence, it can be stated
that most of the subjects are aware of what corporal punishment is while some consider that sco
lding is still a part of the said disciplinary method which is proven to be true based on the previou
s study of The Committee of the Rights of a Child in the General Comment No. 8. The main reas
on to support their awareness is that 86.66% of them have experience corporal punishment to b
e present in their home until today thus, backing the statement that corporal punishment in the
Philippines is never ending.

Surprisingly, the respondents dominate the belief that the use of corporal punishment ha
ve a positive effect (60%) despite its given negative effects as per previous research papers con
ducted by various research team globally. Furthermore, the data gathered states that most of th
e respondents have confessed to administered corporal punishment toward others. It only prove
n that the undying cycle comes from also experiencing corporal punishment as individual. In add
ition to this, 93.33% of the subject have agreed to the use of corporal punishment as a form of di
sciplinary method which is alarming for it contradicts the common vision of different research ab
out the topic that aims to give an end about corporal punishment.

The reasons behind these result is that for them, corporal punishment is a necessity in te
aching a child a lesson. One of the subject has even stated that corporal punishment is a buildin
g foundation for a child to realize that what he/she have done was wrong. It only shown that whe
n a person experienced corporal punishment, it only implies that his/her way of thinking about di

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sciplining someone is also affected, causing him/her to pass this method through generations.

As a result, majority of them is not in favor on the need of passing a bill against corporal
punishment. It seems that for them, it can only limit the child-rearing strategy of a parent. Howev
er, the good alternative of corporal punishment for them is the practice of discussing a problem w
ithin the children and the parenting body.

This outcome challenges both the parents and the government at some point. (1) The go
vernment or its smaller branches should give attention on forming a family-focused organization
that strengthens the foundation of a household and that they must work hand in hand in giving s
eminars about proper parenting, family building, and all that aims in teaching a parent about pro
per ways of disciplining their child. (2) The parents must work themselves to provide connections
between them and their child in order for them to have an open relationship to discuss the matte
rs without making use of harmful actions.

However, this research has also its minimal potential limitations. One includes the partici
pant itself. Aside from having a small number of respondents, their social status is also a main b
ullet. These respondents are college students studying in a private institution, meaning, in most c
ase scenario, this set of subject have some wealth to offer. With that, they might not get the sam
e amount of understanding about corporal punishment as same as Filipino children living in a hu
mbler situation who might be experiencing an abusive form of this disciplinary method.

In relation to this, it can be recommended for future researches to highlight the topic in a l
ikely more destitute area to dig up a deeper result about corporal punishment and the Filipino ch
ildren.

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 LIST OF TABLES:

- Table 1. The considered head of the family by the respondents.

- Table 2. Respondent's idea of corporal punishment.

- Table 3. The frequency of corporal punishment administered to respondents.

- Table 4. Respondent's opinion on how corporal punishment will affect their relationship
toward parents/guardians.

- Table 5. Respondent's opinion on corporal punishment as a disciplinary method.

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 LIST OF REFERENCES:

Gershoff, E. T. (2002). Corporal Punishment by Parents and Associated Child Behaviors

and Experiences: A Meta-Analytic and Theoretical Review. Psychological Bulletin, 128(4), 539-
579

Gershoff, E. T. (2010). More Harm Than Good: A Summary of Scientific Research on The
Intended and Unintended Effects of Corporal Punishment on Children. University of Texas, 73(31)

Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children. (2015). Convention on the
Rights of the Child. Retrieved from http://www.endcorporalpunishment.org/prohibiting-corporal-
punishment/hrlaw/crc/

Mackenbach, J.D., Ringoot, A.P., et al. (2014). Exploring the Relation of Harsh Parental
Discipline with Child Emotional and Behavioral Problems by Using Multiple Informants: The
Generation R Study. PLoS ONE 9(8): e104793. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0104793

Save The Children Sweden. (2008). A Time for Change: Ending All Forms of Corporal
Punishment of Children. (pp.3-13). Quezon City, Philippines: Save The Children Sweden

Sayson, F. (2015). Child-led groups push to end corporal punishment. Retrieved from
http://www.rappler.com/move-ph/100149-child-groups-end-corporal-punishment

WebMD. (2015). Parents, Kids, and Discipline. Retrieved from

http://www.webmd.com/parenting/guide/discipline-tactics

World Health Organization. (2002). World report on violence and health: summary. (p.16).
Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization

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 LIST OF APPENDICES:

A.) SURVEY QUESTIONS:

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B.) MANUAL TABULATIONS:

1. What type of family do you have?

Nuclear family = IIIII-IIIII-II

Extended family = III

2. Who do you consider as the head of the family?

Father = IIIII-IIIII-I

Mother = II

Grandfather = I

Grandmother =

Others = I

-"No one."

3. What for you is corporal punishment?

Scolding = II

Spanking = IIIII-II

Grounding = IIIII-I

Others = 0

4. How often have you experienced corporal punishment?

Always = 0

Sometimes = IIIII-III

Seldom = IIIII

Never = II

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 5. How will corporal punishment affect your relationship towards your parent/guardian?

Positively = IIIII-IIII

Negatively = IIIII

Never experience corporal punishment = I

6. Have you administered corporal punishment toward others? To whom? Check all that
applies, Brother = IIIII-II

Sister = III

Cousin = I

Others = IIII

- All subjects have responded of never applying corporal punishment toward others.

7. Are you in favor of the use of corporal punishment as a disciplinary method?

Strongly agree = 3

Agree = 11

Disagree = 1

Strongly Disagree = 0

8. If you become a parent, will you practice corporal punishment?

Yes = IIIII-IIIII-III

- "It depends upon the situation."

- "For my child's own good."

- "But not that much to lecture them."

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 - "It is one way to discipline a child."

- "Because it's for their own good."

- "To discipline my kids."

- "To understand the problem situation."

- "Because the child will learn from punishments, He/ She must know that there are
things that were wrong."

- "To discipline my child."

- "So that the children will be disciplined."

- "Because punishment is for their own good."

No = II

- "It can be traumatic to the person experience."

- "I will make my children understand through listening."

9. Should a bill against corporal punishment be passed?

Strongly agree = II

Agree = III

Disagree = IIIII-IIIII

Strongly Disagree = 0

10. Which of the following is a good alternative to corporal punishment?

Time out procedure = 0

Discussion of the problem = IIIII-IIIII-II

Grounding = III

Others = 0

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