Organization:
รูปภาพ1
Gabfai Community Theatre Group
30/1 Rajapuek Rd., Chang puak , Muang , Chiang mai 50300 , Thailand
Tel., fax. 053 404582 : Mobile phone 081 7965915 e-mail gabfa1996i@gmail.com : www.gabfai.com
Amount requested
Tdh Germany : 1,754,000 Baht
Project duration
August 2014 - July 2017 (3 years)
Period 1 : August 2014 – July 2015 (12 months)
Period 2 : August 2015 – July 2016 (12 months)
Period 3 : August 2016 – July 2017 (12 months)
Characteristics and problems
In all societies “discipline” is considered quite important for way of living of all nations. Each society has its own “Discipline” to be taught its members so as to have the same pattern of social treatment. This is in one way how culture is transferred from one generation to the next. It
contributes to the building of peaceful society. Disciplined citizens will help make the country prosperous. All countries would wish for this, no exception for Thailand. In Thailand, when talking about discipline, the old saying “If you love your cows, tie them. If you love your children, hit them.” will automatically pop up. This old saying tremendously influences the way Thai parents raise their children. When children, as a young member of the society, do something different that could harm themselves or others, adults will hit them and teach them what is right. Adults believe that this way, children will remember well from the pain and will not act like that again. This way of raising and teaching children is done and transferred from the older generations to present one. However, within the changing of global context, this approach starts to be declined and be considered as violent action against children.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child brings about an immense change to children and how to raise them up. Children used to be a follower, to follow whatever adults teach them. CRC encourages them to be independent from the frame adults put down for them and encourages children to speak up and express their opinions. CRC also promote protection for children from abuse both physically and emotionally. Children’s rights are increasingly being violated, especially in developing countries like Thailand where adults do not understand, nor interested, nor aware of children issues. Many adults do not respect children’s rights. When children behave or act differently from what is expected, they would say that is wrong. The most surprising fact is that most of these adults are in education system. That is why corporal punishment becomes educational culture. Teachers hit children because that is the way they can keep control of them. In Thailand, there are more concern on this issue. Even though corporal punishment is still in practice in many schools and families, it is in the decline, especially after the launch of National Education Act and Child Protection Act. When corporal punishment becomes something of the past, there is a question on what can be used in lieu of corporal punishment to teach and raise children up appropriately. Prevalence/attitudinal research in the last ten years a study of the relationship between gender and physical punishment in China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand and the US, which used interviews with around 4,000 mothers, fathers and children aged 7-10, found that in Thailand 58% of girls and 72% of boys involved in the study had experienced “mild” corporal punishment (spanking, hitting, or slapping with a bare hand; hitting or slapping on the hand, arm, or leg; shaking; or hitting with an object), and 5% of girls and 3% of boys had experienced severe corporal punishment (hitting or slapping the child on the face, head, or ears; beating the child repeatedly with an implement) by someone in their household in the past month. Smaller percentages of parents believed it was necessary to use corporal punishment to bring up their child: for girls, 16% of mothers and 22% of fathers believed it was necessary; for boys, 11% of mothers and 10% of fathers believed it was necessary. A UNICEF study involving more than 2,300 children in the southern border area of Thailand found that violence, and the anxiety it causes, is an everyday occurrence in their lives, including corporal punishment in homes and schools. Of the 475 children who answered a question about corporal punishment in the home, 38% said they had direct experience of violent punishment like beating with a stick or belt; 8% said this kind of punishment happens often. Half of the 1,010 children who answered a question on their opinion on corporal punishment at home disagreed that they deserved violent punishment when they did wrong. In November 2006, the findings of a study funded by the National Health Foundation were released which showed that corporal punishment continues to be used in schools, despite its prohibition. The research constituted a questionnaire sent to 1,300 teachers in primary and high schools across the country. Punishments reported included hitting students with open palms, fists, clothes and blunt objects, kicking, applying heated materials and slapping the face. Up to 60% of the teachers strongly believed that corporal punishment was the right method to use with students.
“The CRC Committee notes the State party’s efforts to prohibit the use of corporal punishment in schools. It is concerned, however, that corporal punishment is still practised and that domestic legislation does not prohibit its use within the family, the juvenile justice and alternative care systems and generally within the society. In this regard, the Committee recommends that the State party take all appropriate measures, including of a legislative nature, to
prohibit corporal punishment within the family, the juvenile justice and alternative care systems and generally within the society. It further suggests that awareness-raising campaigns be conducted to ensure that alternative forms of discipline are administered in a manner consistent with the child’s human dignity and in conformity with the Convention, especially article 28.2.”
Chiang mai area, in the north of Thailand, is the area where children are trapped in violent environment ranging from small to large extent namely, violence in family, school, community, society including violence caused by different opinions, beliefs, religions, ethnics, violence from media and technology and violence caused by governmental policies; for example, effects from tourism, promotion of industrial investment, labor outside the system or foreign labor, transportation, granting resource concession to capitalists, eviction, fighting, terrorism, massacre of minor group, etc. All of these are key factors that force children to fall in the middle of violence which caused by adults. Problematic situations such as trafficking of children, slave labor and children who escape war to Thailand force children to become victims inevitably. And globalization accelerates the spread of the problems.