Corporal Punishment and Positive Discipline

RAPCAN seeks to promote measures for the discipline of children that are consonant with rights and dignity of children. We therefore work towards the elimination of corporal and humiliating punishment, and seek to support parents/caregivers, educators and others to utilise positive approaches to discipline. This section includes information from RAPCAN’s work to eliminate the use of corporal and humiliating punishment against children, and the utilisation of positive discipline in the home and school. The documents include information from RAPCAN’s advocacy work in this area, as well as materials aimed at supporting caregivers, educators and others to utilise positive discipline approaches.

Contact us for resources that are not downloadable from this page.

Title Date Category
Discipline of Children: Parents Must Lead by Example (PDF) 2007 Press release
Author: Samantha Waterhouse
Filename: Press Release 11_10_07 Discipline of Children.pdf  [File Size: 22.72 KB] (Click to download)
Response to Corporal Punishment Myths (PDF) 2007 Article
Author: Samantha Waterhouse
Filename: Response to Corporal Punishment Myths.pdf  [File Size: 24.22 KB] (Click to download)
The Tree by the River- Story Book (PDF) 2008 Book
Description: A story about corporal and humiliating punishment and the need for positive discipline. The book is aimed at learners in grades 4 - 6. It is a useful resource for teachers when used with the accompanying Activity Book.
Author: Jill Wenman
Publisher: RAPCAN
Filename: storybook 2009 screen.pdf  [File Size: 404.29 KB] (Click to download)
The Tree by the River- Activity Book (PDF) 2008 Book
Description: This activity book is aimed at teachers of grade 4 - 6 learners and accompanies the story book The tree by the river. The books explore the impact of corporal punishment and promotes positive discipline.
Author: Jill Wenman
Publisher: RAPCAN
Filename: activitybook 2009 screen.pdf  [File Size: 1.14 MB] (Click to download)
A Teacher's Guide to Positive Discipline (PDF) 2008 Book
Description: This book is part of a toolkit commissioned by RAPCAN to promote positive discipline in schools.

Teachers have a leading role to play in implementing positive discipline yet many teachers struggle to get learners to cooperate without hitting or humiliating them.

The book provides teachers with a range of practical tools and techniques to strengthen positive discipline in the classroom.

It also looks at how to get the whole school community involved in building a culture of human rights, dignity and respect so that learners can reach their full potential.
Publisher: RAPCAN
Filename: teaching positive discipline screen.pdf  [File Size: 1.16 MB] (Click to download)
Positive Discipline: A Manual for Facilitators 2008 Manual
Publisher: RAPCAN
Submission to the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child: Ending Corporal Punishment and Other Forms of Humiliating Punishment of Children (PDF) 2008 Submission
Publisher: The Sothern African Network to End Corporal and Humiliating Punishment of Children
Filename: CP Submission ACERWC 3010 English.pdf  [File Size: 151.66 KB] (Click to download)
Proposition au Comite africain des Experts sur les Droits et le Bien-etre de l'Enfant: Mettre Fin Aux Chatiments Corporels Et Humiliants Et Autres Formes De Punition Des Enfants (PDF) 2008 Submission
Publisher: The Southern African Network to End Corporal and Humiliating Punishment of Children
Filename: CP Submission ACERWC 3010 French.pdf  [File Size: 197.05 KB] (Click to download)
Corporal Punishment / Positive Discipline Networks 2009 Website
Description: For more detailed information, visit these websites:

Working Group on Positive Discipline - South Africa

Regional Network on Corporal Punishment - Southern Africa
Banning Corporal Punishment: the South African Experience (PDF) 2010 Book
Description: This publication is part of the RAPCAN Research Series No. 2 and documents the experiences and challenges of the Working Group on Positive Discipline related to prohibiting corporal punishment through the Children’s Act as Amended during the law reform process in South Africa over the past decade.
In spite of the failure of the legislation to prohibit parental corporal punishment,the advocacy campaign is none-the-less considered to have achieved a number of successful outcomes. In addition there are many lessons that have been learnt by members of the network through this process. It is these lessons that we are hoping to share with other organisation working towards policy or law reform on socially contentious children’s rights issues, through the dissemination of this publication.
Author: Carol Bower
Filename: RAPCAN_Banning_Corporal_Punishment_WEB.pdf  [File Size: 166.44 KB] (Click to download)