Have you ever been punished with corporal punishments by your parents? What age did your parents stop physically punishing you?
Like children in any culture or area on the planet, African children will get an earful from the parents, grandparents or other guardians if they step out of line. Children might get a scolding for being rude or disrespectful to elders, hitting another child or not doing what they are supposed to. A scolding may be the first warning of disciplinary action and include threats of having to do more household chores, losing playtime, taking away a toy or pocket money or even a smack.

Unlike the West, physical punishment is still an acceptable part of child discipline in much of Africa. A smack on the hand or bottom, or a ruler or stick on the hand, is commonplace and seen as necessary to teach and mold children who show misconduct.

In some cases, children are severely beaten or even flogged as a disciplinary action. The BBC reports that in 2010 this prompted a legal bill in Nigeria to make corporal punishment that causes “grievous harm” against children a criminal offense. Even with such a bill, some physical disciplinary methods will still be prevalent across Africa. It will be difficult to enforce this law, except in severe cases.

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