© Yodon Thonden/Human Rights Watch 1999
Kenyan school children in class
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Violence Against Children in Schools
Children’s Rights Division - Home Page
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Violence Against Children in Schools
For many children around the world, violence was a regular part of the school experience. In some countries, school officials routinely used corporal punishment to maintain classroom discipline and to punish children for poor academic performance. In other countries, authorities failed to intervene to protect minority children from harassment and attacks by other students. The failure of school officials to protect children from violence in school denied them their right to be free from all forms of physical or mental violence and the full enjoyment of their right to education.
Human Rights Watch worked to highlight these abuses, undertaking a fact-finding mission to Kenya and issuing its findings in August 1999. Kenya's School Discipline Regulations authorized the use of corporal punishment in schools but failed effectively to regulate its use. Nominal restraints were routinely ignored by teachers and the regulations rarely enforced. Teachers caned children for "offenses" such as tardiness, talking in class, wearing torn or dirty uniforms, being unable to answer a question, or failing to achieve target marks set on exams. These measures often resulted in bruising, swelling, and small cuts; at times, however, children suffered more serious injuries such as sprained or broken fingers or wrists, knocked-out teeth, internal injuries, and even death.
Press Release, September 1999
Kenyan Children Suffer Frequent Beatings By Teachers
Spare the Child: Corporal Punishment in Kenyan Schools
Promises Broken:
Education
World Report 2000 Section on Children's Rights:
Violence Against Children in School
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