Corporal punishment and disciplinary control of secondary school students in Delta state

Abstract

This study was carried out to examine and analyze the use of corporal punishment in disciplinary control of secondary schools students in Delta State. Two research questions were raised and one hypothesis was generated and tested. 515 principals were selected through the use of the multi-stage random sampling technique from 41 secondary schools in Delta State. Data were collected with the aid of a structured questionnaire and were analyzed with simple percentage and Z-test statistics. The findings revealed that: corporal punishment is the most frequently used form of punishment in secondary school; corporal punishment is not an effective tool in disciplinary control; and finally, there was significant difference between public and private secondary schools in the use of corporal punishment. It was recommended that the use of corporal punishment be discouraged in the school system and there is need for principals to employ better disciplinary techniques that would yield better results.

Keywords: Corporal punishment; discipline; control; secondary school