Corporal Punishment in Preschool and at Home in Tanzania, A Children’s Rights Challenge

This book examines educators and parents’ practices of corporal punishment of preschool-aged children in school and at home in Tanzania, considering why it is that many children in Tanzania are still subject to corporal punishment. It explores the attitudes of parents, teachers, and educational leaders about corporal punishment, in the context of existing government policies, laws, and regulations, using interviews, questionnaires and observation. Corporal punishment is widely and frequently used by both parents and teachers as a way of maintaining discipline, with most regarding it favourably as a means of behavioural modification. Furthermore, the book shows that the use of corporal punishment in Tanzania is influenced by cultural norms and religious beliefs, teacher qualifications and parents’ levels of education, past experiences of corporal punishment, and related beliefs about the practice. Crucially, there has not yet been a societal-level legal framework established to protect children from the harms involved.