Buddhism and bullying
The Buddhism instructor teacher at my daughter's school, which is considered to be among the top three high schools in Thailand, has told her students they will be struck once for every question they get wrong in the mid-term test. Ten wrong answers and t
This teacher should be able to enlighten me as to when bullying became a part of Buddhism, but if she fails to answer my question, do I have the right to hit her? Would this help her learn or remember? Would it make her a kinder and more benevolent person?
When is Thailand going to realise that sanctioning violence against children is not the way to encourage learning? Two quotes spring to mind, the first from Mahatma Gandhi: “I object to violence because, when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary. The evil it does is permanent.” The other comes from that well-known atheist Isaac Asimov: “Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.”
Ajarn Dee
