The Impact of Corporal Punishment on Students’ academic performance at Secondary Schools Level in Mogadishu, Somalia

Abstract

This study aimed to determine how corporal punishment affected students' academic performance at the secondary school level in Mogadishu, Somalia. The study aimed to determine the various effects of corporal punishment on students' academic performance in secondary schools in Mogadishu, Somalia. This research was centred on the ideas X and Y advanced by Douglas McGregor. 1940 students from eight secondary schools comprise the planned population, with 100 parents, 34 head teachers, and 68 teachers on disciplinary committees. In total, there were 2142 target populations. A total of 307 respondents were used to create the sample. They were split up as follows: 261 secondary students, 30 selected parents, eight selected schools, eight head teachers, and eight teachers on disciplinary committees. Professional judgment was used to determine whether the content was valid. To assess the instrument's reliability, the test-retest method was applied. The validity of the questionnaire was assured using expert judgment. The study used survey research methods, mainly cross-sectional survey methods. Together with an interview script and a document review, a questionnaire served as the primary data collection method. The government and private secondary schools in Mogadishu were randomly chosen for the study. Frequencies, percentages, averages, and standard deviations were the descriptive statistics utilized exclusively for quantitative data analysis using SPSS. Charts, bar graphs, and frequency tables were utilized to present the study's findings. The qualitative data were analyzed using themes drawn from the objectives, which were then shown through narrations. The study discovered that corporal punishment in public and private secondary schools hurt students’ academic performance. Parents supported the elimination of physical punishment in schools. Whilst a few parents disagreed, most believed that physical punishment was still an effective corrective action. The results of this study, when applied to the responses of the teachers, showed that many teachers in government schools (91%) agreed that physical punishment has adverse effects, and many teachers in the two types of schools (80% and 80%) agreed that physical punishment does not maintain discipline. The results of this study may help stakeholders and those in charge of policy at the education ministry understand that good behaviour does not depend on physical punishment; on the contrary, caning appears to have a greater delinquency rate in schools, which leads to rebellion and hostility. In conclusion, Students are harmed physically, psychologically, and academically when violence is used as a form of discipline. Using corporal punishment in schools interferes with students' rights to be treated with dignity and, as a result, prevents them from receiving a proper education.