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The Malaysian Mental Health Association said physical punishment may produce short-term compliance but often leads to long-term emotional and behavioural consequences. (File pic)
\nPETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Mental Health Association (MMHA) says it does not agree with corporal punishment in schools as it often leads to long-term emotional and behavioural consequences.<\/p>\n
MMHA president Dr Andrew Mohanraj said while the recent fatal stabbing of a 14-year-old student in Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya, has prompted calls for stronger disciplinary measures in schools, corporal punishment risks doing more harm than good.<\/p>\n
Mohanraj, a consultant psychiatrist, said true discipline involves guiding young people to understand the consequences of their actions and develop internal self-control, empathy and moral reasoning.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese qualities cannot be nurtured through fear or force. Discipline should never be equated with punishment,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cA safe and compassionate school is one where discipline is firm but fair, and where emotional wellbeing is prioritised alongside academic achievements.<\/p>\n
\u201cPhysical punishment may produce short-term compliance but often leads to long-term emotional and behavioural consequences.<\/p>\n
\u201cChildren who experience physical punishment are more likely to develop aggression, anxiety, low self-esteem and defiant behaviour \u2013 the very problems we hope to prevent.\u201d<\/p>\n
A 14-year-old student was on Wednesday charged with the murder of a 16-year-old schoolmate at SMK Bandar Utama Damansara (4) on Oct 14.<\/p>\n
The murder prompted the education ministry and Selangor state government to announce a slew of measures to enhance safety and address disciplinary issues, including additional funds for CCTVs and enhanced mental health screening for students.<\/p>\n
In the statement, Mohanraj noted that children are currently raised in complex social and digital environments where they often grapple with family stress, academic pressure, social media influence and emotional distress.<\/p>\n
He said responding to such challenges with physical punishment only deepens fear and resentment, rather than fostering respect or moral understanding.<\/p>\n
Instead of punitive measures, schools should focus on strengthening their mental health and counselling support systems, he said.<\/p>\n
He said every school should have access to counsellors or trained teachers who can identify early signs of distress, behavioural issues or potential violence.<\/p>\n
\u201cTeachers also need training in positive discipline, conflict resolution and emotional regulation \u2014 approaches that build empathy and accountability rather than fear.<\/p>\n
\u201cDiscipline begins at home and parents play a crucial role in shaping a child\u2019s values, behaviour and emotional control.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is neither fair nor realistic to expect teachers to shoulder the full responsibility for children\u2019s conduct when parental guidance, consistency and communication are the foundations of good discipline.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under the Education (School Discipline) Regulations, students can only be caned by principals and designated teachers. It is usually for serious offences like bullying.<\/p>\n
Students cannot be caned in front of others or during assemblies, as outlined in a 2003 education ministry circular. The circular also forbids the caning of girls.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Malaysian Mental Health Association said physical punishment may produce short-term compliance but often leads to long-term emotional…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":328342,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163331,163332,125329,163333,407,210,163334,517,163335,3060,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-328341","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-caning","9":"tag-corporal-punishment","10":"tag-discipline","11":"tag-dr-andrew-mohanraj","12":"tag-education","13":"tag-health","14":"tag-malaysian-mental-health-association","15":"tag-mental-health","16":"tag-mmha","17":"tag-schools","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115427492400274140","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=328341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328341\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/328342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=328341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=328341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=328341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}