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The Oxford dictionary defined punish as inflict a penalty or sanction on (someone) as retribution for an offence, especially a transgression of a legal or moral code. In the past, punishment has always been a popular way to penalise those who had done wrong. The severity of punishment depends on the offence that has made. Committing a crime might land the perpetrator in jail or fine. In school, students who committed an offence might get canned, get screamed at or even expelled from the school depending on the offence that the students have committed. The question that the world has always been debating is that should teachers punish students for their bad behaviour. In a general perspective, a lot of parents do not allow teachers to punish their kids too severely. However, some would encourage the teacher to punish the student as they see fit. Many new teachers would adopt a whole class or collective punishment to handle misbehaviour. This would cause the class to have low morale and motivation to learn. Respect and an eagerness to be viewed as a good student by the teacher are the characteristics of a standard student-teacher relationship. Therefore, when a student seems to be behaving differently, the teacher or guidance counsellor should analyse and understand what has created the breakdown. Students’ inappropriate behaviour usually caused by the stresses that they face in their home or external environment. It can be a result of being the victim of bullying; life changes incident; learning disabilities; or mental health issues. The role of the teacher is, therefore, to find out the reason by having a one on one discussion with the student. This is very important, because, punishing the student that is facing any of these stressors daily, will not help the student to deal with the fundamental problems, or prevent a recurrence of the bad behaviour. The role of the teacher, now, need to ensure the well-being of the students rather than just teaching. However, there are some behaviours of students in a classroom setting that calls for punishment. Despite the reasons behind the student’s behaviour, the severity of the actions, for example, if another student is seriously hurt, dictates that some form of punishment must take place. However, the teacher has a responsibility to their students to uncover the underlying factors that caused them to behave badly, and then work with that student, perhaps through the help of a counsellor, to get that student on a path to recovery and acceptable behaviours. This makes the teacher’s job much more rewarding. With all the aspect that we have discussed, present teachers have now transcended from just an educator to more of a life coach. Of course, not all teachers are comfortable or trained to portray this role, but it an important aspect for the teacher to understand. For those that are not trained or comfortable to carry out this role to adequately help the students to alter behaviours, teachers can actively seek interventions and guidance from trained personnel such as guidance counsellors to provide the help. In conclusion, teachers should punish the students for their bad behaviour. However, teachers need to analyse the underlying problem that the students are facing before meting out punishment to the students that are behaving badly in a classroom setting.
