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. Related Reports: Lessons in Terror: Attacks on Education in Afghanistan July 2006 Letting Them Fail: Government Neglect and the Right to Education for Children Affected by AIDS October 2005 Failing Our Children: Barriers to the Right to Education September 2005 Future Forsaken: Abuses Against Children Affected by HIV/AIDS in India July 2004 Forgotten Schools: Right to Basic Education for Children on Farms in South Africa June 2004 Second Class: Discrimination Against Palestinian Arab Children in Israel's Schools September 2001 Hatred in the Hallways: Violence and Discrimination Against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Students in U.S. Schools May 2001 Scared at School: Sexual Violence Against Girls in South African Schools March 2001 Spare the Child: Corporal Punishment in Kenyan Schools September 1999 Promises Broken: Education World Report 2002 Section on Children's Rights: Violence Against Children in School Press Releases and Related Links: Saudi Arabia: Chadians Barred From Schools, Hospitals September 2006 Afghanistan: UNICEF and Education Ministry Launch Needed Protections for Schools September 1, 2006 Going to school — a right not to be ignored August 24, 2006 The Taliban's War on Education: Schoolgirls are still under fire in Afghanistan July 31, 2006 Campaign page: Lessons in Terror July 11, 2006 Afghanistan: Bombs and Threats Shut Down Schools July 11, 2006 Israel: Cuts in Child Allowance Discriminate Against Palestinian Arab Children June 7, 2002 U.S. Gets "Failing Grade" Protecting Gay Students May 30, 2001 South Africa: Sexual Violence Rampant in Schools March 27, 2001 Kenyan Children Suffer Frequent Beatings By Teachers September 9, 1999 | |  | |
 Easy Targets: Violence Against Children Worldwide 
|
