It’s important to be punctual, and it’s a good idea to learn that – and other lessons – at a young age.
But this school principal went way, way too far in enforcing that lesson.
Six boys aged between 9 and 10 found themselves arriving late to Chaitanya Bharathi School, their private school in Andhra Pradesh, India.
Usually, this kind of situation would result in a warning or even detention.
But Maharaja Naidu, the principal, chose to go for a much more extreme punishment.
He ordered the boys to strip naked and stand like that in front of all their schoolmates and teachers under the scorching hot sun.
A video of the incident found its way onto social media, and it wasn’t long before furious parents found out about the cruel and inhumane punishment.
They were soon up in arms, flocking to the school in outrage and demanding explanations and apologies.
The principal actually wound up going on the run because of the anger of these parents, instead of facing his mistakes.
Activists for child rights soon got wind of the story and began joining parents in demanding better disciplinary approaches.
More parents have also since talked about their own kids who faced severe, similar punishments if they did not complete their homework on time.
Unfortunately, relevant authorities began to try and cover the incident, trying to basically sweep it right under the rug.
The offending school principal now has the support of Mandal Educational Officer Leela Rani and that officer has been helping him keep a lot of his severe and ridiculous punishments under wraps.
Achyuta Rao, the president of Balala Hakula Sangham, a child rights organization, stated that they have contacted the Leela Rani, but she said she would not bring the issue to higher authorities.
Rao believes that the children who have been subjected to this traumatic form of discipline should receive psychological counseling.
He also states that the school principal should be arrested in accordance with the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
His group has also reported the incident to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights.
However, all this time later, police have still not taken much action against the principal or the school.
Pratap Reddy, who is the Chittoor DEO BP, has attempted to quell the outrage.
He spoke to the media and stated that the investigation is still ongoing.
He has also said that action has been taken for the private school’s recognition to be withheld and removed until 2020.
Unfortunately, this is far from the only case of this kind in India – and also far from the only one in Andhra Pradesh.
Two students were also given this punishment in 2015 in a different school, and they spent three hours naked beneath the sun before collapsing.
The teachers behind this were given suspensions – a very light punishment, considering the cruelness of their own punishments to the young kids in their care.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU_DWabrZ_Q
Many activists are calling for full disciplinary reform of these extreme and disproportionate punishments, and it is hoped that, under enough pressure, the right authorities will see to more humane and appropriate disciplinary action for students.
