Punishing child by burning inhuman, says  pastor

Fri, 10 Mar 2017 12:57:14 +0000

BURNING a child’s palms as punishment for eating sweet potatoes at a neighbour’s house is inhuman and cannot be a way to discipline a child because discipline comes out of love while torture is a sign of hate and bitterness, Divine Assignment Ministries pastor Martin Mwale has said.

Pastor Mwale said that even God disciplines those that he loves and he punishes each one he accepts as his child and the purpose of discipline is to correct the wrong.

Pastor Mwale was reacting to recent media reports of a child whose palms were burnt by the mother as punishment for eating sweet potatoes at a neighbour’s house.

“As much as the Bible says ‘spare not the rod for an erring child’, the rod is not the only method of discipline because one of the most effective ways of disciplining a child is to find what they like the most and tell them that their punishment is that you will deprive them of their most adored activity,” he said.

He said for example if a child liked cartoons or toys, the parents could punish them by telling them that there will be no more cartoons or toys and their love for cartoons and toys has a way of restraining them from certain wrongs.

Meanwhile, women and children’s rights activist Daputsa Zulu, popularly known as Sister D, said discipline was important and necessary in every aspect of life whether at home, work, school or church but it was important for parents to learn and differentiate between torturing and disciplining children.

“Parents should have good communication with their children so that the children do not fear but respect their parents because discipline was the practice of training people to obey rules and torture was inhuman treatment,” she said.

Sister D said that torture must not be used as a means of discipline by parents and guardians because it only instilled fear in the mind of a child.