Nobody will deny that there is indeed a discipline problem among our youths today. And nobody will deny that, being swept under the carpet

like it is today, this problem would soon escalate into a national tragedy.

Mr. Editor, we as Guyanese, witness it quite often, we wait for the problem to worsen and only then do we attempt to address it. It will be of catastrophic consequences if we continue to ignore this issue of indiscipline among our youths.

The least we can do is talk about it! However, as a youth and a student, I

recommend corporal punishment be ruled out as a solution to the problem. Sure enough, there is a high probability that it will solve the problem of

indiscipline among youths like it has done in the past, but in the name of righteousness, let us not damage the child physically and emotionally in order

to enforce discipline. While today’s youths lack discipline, we should not abuse the child in order to teach him discipline. Does it make sense caning a child because he has bullied another child? When you think about it, doing such a thing would be beating one child to show that bullying a child is wrong! We don't want to do that, do we?

There are many other options open to us other than corporal punishment. Although they may not be the best of solutions to the problem, at least the problem will be tackled in a sensible and non-violent way. We cannot afford to use corporal punishment as a means of instilling discipline in children in today’s world.

Let us forget about corporal punishment.

I reiterate that we need to address this issue of indiscipline amongst our youths as urgently as possible, while at the same time I underline, as a student and citizen, while corporal punishment may be effective in disciplining children, we certainly do not want to jeopardize the physical and psychological health of the children of Guyana!

Let the indiscipline issue among youths be addressed with this wise adage in mind-
SPARE THE ROD AND SAVE THE CHILD!
Rishaad.A.Ishmail