Given the recent reports of an increase in teachers imposing corporal punishment on students in school premises, Founder of the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) Prof. Romesh Jayasinghe has opined that legal provisions should be in place to stop such practices from occurring. While speaking to The Morning, Jayasinghe said that several students have been subjected to mental trauma due to the rise in corporal punishment in schools. "There has been a rise in complaints of students who have been subject to physical and emotional punishments. Children as young as 5 years have shown behavioural changes. Teachers have to know the difference between positive correction and negative correction. Positive correction is stopping things that children might enjoy, such as going out to play, reduced screen time, or outings. Whereas negative correction is when children are beaten, verbally abused and emotionally traumatised," said Prof Jayasinghe. He went on to say that teachers and school authorities do not know this difference and are not always skilled enough to know how to deal with children emotionally. "Teachers might be educated in their subjects, whereas the quality of teachers in Sri Lanka is appalling. In other countries, teachers have to complete child psychology and educational psychology modules if the teacher is to be qualified enough to teach in a school. In Sri Lanka, the teachers are not taught this. How can teachers understand a child's mentality then?," he added. When further inquired about the corporal punishment law in Sri Lanka, Prof Jayasinghe said that there is no law as such. "The so called corporal punishment law is not even passed by Parliament. It is an opinionated so-called law. So, if a child is abused physically or mentally, no action can be taken legally. I appeal to the Minister of Justice that the Corporal Punishment law needs to be implemented soon without further delay. This will help save the future generations," he stated. Additionally, Prof Jayasinghe said that children have been extremely traumatised due to the Covid-19 pandemic. "Children have silently suffered a lot. There are children as old as 5 years with speech delays, children who have gone hungry without meals due to the financial crisis and children who have witnessed traumatic arguments between parents. Children are fragile. When they witness such things, some children become stubborn and resilient, while some children have developmental delays and struggle to cope," said the Professor. When further inquired about how the matter can be resolved, Prof. Jayasinghe said that the first thing that needs to be done was to implement the law. "The law needs to come into place. This can be tabled in Parliament, debated and a law can be imposed. When this comes into place, educators will then know that they are restricted by the law. The next thing that needs to be done is to educate the school management, teachers and even parents. They need to know about the mental development of children. Not all children are the same, and this is important so that the teachers and parents know which category their child falls under," stated Prof. Jayasinghe. In concluding, Prof Jayasinghe said that corporal punishment in Sri Lanka is something that people have 'learnt' to accept, but this should not be the case. "Some people think that they are disciplining the child. But this is not the case. What is actually happening is that children are scarred for life, and this is something they will carry for generations later," he concluded.