[Kim Tae Hyun's Teen Education] Discipline and Corporal Punishment: "Spee...

[By Kim Taehyun, Columnist, Korea Lecturer News] The law prohibits corporal punishment. Yet many parents still feel, “If words don’t work, discipline by force is necessary.” As an educator, I oppose corporal punishment, but I also understand one thing: it is fast.

However, education should pursue not speed, but what is right. And what is right? Love. Even when a child makes mistakes, discipline must always contain love.

This article does not simply repeat, “Corporal punishment is always wrong.” Instead, it asks a deeper question: Have we truly examined the standards by which we justify punishment? Have we reflected on our emotions, society’s norms, and the child’s understanding before acting?

Corporal punishment is not something teachers, parents, or children genuinely want. Who wants to strike someone they love? And who wants to be struck by someone they love?

Most violence comes from anger without love. The desire to hit another person often begins when love is absent.

Many parents still believe punishment is necessary, even while loving their children deeply. Why does this contradiction continue? Usually because of the temptation of immediate control, the lack of alternative parenting skills, and confusion in social norms. We should carefully examine the law, the data, and educational alternatives to establish standards for discipline without punishment.

1. Law and Current Awareness

The law is clear. The legal basis for parental corporal punishment has been removed. According to the Ministry of Justice’s announcement on the deletion of Article 915 of the Civil Act (January 8, 2021), parental punishment can no longer be justified.

However, public awareness has not fully caught up.

According to Save the Children Korea’s 2023 survey on awareness and experiences regarding the prohibition of corporal punishment at home, 68% of respondents were still unaware that parental disciplinary rights had been abolished. Only 35.9% answered that physical punishment should never be used under any circumstances. In other words, six out of ten people still believed some form of corporal punishment could be acceptable.

The main reasons given for using corporal punishment were:

Belief that it is an effective way to correct behavior (31.7%)

Belief that wrongdoing must be followed by negative consequences (26.1%)

Belief that young children cannot be disciplined effectively through words alone (18.6%)

2. The Reality of Punishment Standards: What the Data Reveals

According to the study The Boundary Between Discipline and Abuse: A Text Mining Analysis of Standards for Corporal Punishment Toward Self and Others by Jung Gyu-hee et al., people do not judge corporal punishment as a single act. They evaluate it through multiple dimensions: the actor, the child, the cause, the method, and the result.

The study found four common criteria people use:

If punishment began with a parent’s standards, it was seen as discipline. If it began without standards, it was seen as abuse.

If the child understood the purpose and corrected behavior, it was seen as discipline. If the child only felt fear, it was seen as abuse.

If the parent acted rationally, it was seen as discipline. If the parent acted out of anger or emotion, it was seen as abuse.

If the frequency, intensity, tools used, and severity were considered “low,” it was seen as discipline. Otherwise, it was seen as abuse.

Interestingly, people judged themselves and others differently. When describing their own standards, they focused on motives and intentions. When judging others, they focused on visible outcomes.

For example:

“If I punish to guide my child onto the right path, it is discipline.”

“If the child is bruised, it is abuse.”

This reveals a defensive double standard many people hold.

The deeper problem is this: people’s understanding of “appropriate punishment” is unclear, and even when they think they understand it, they apply it differently. Personal hidden standards continue to operate even after the law has changed.

Therefore, the question is not simply whether punishment should or should not happen. The real task is to bring our standards into the open and examine them honestly.

3. What Does Corporal Punishment Leave in a Child’s Development?

According to Gong Jeong-won’s 2015 systematic review, The Effects of Parental Physical Punishment on Child and Adolescent Development, parental physical punishment is negatively associated with children’s social behavior, emotional health, and cognitive development.

Education is not about creating quick obedience through fear. It is about building self-regulation and long-term habits.

From that perspective, corporal punishment may achieve temporary silence, but it can also leave lifelong scars.

A 2022 report by The Korea Times also found that adults who experienced abuse or severe corporal punishment in the past were statistically more likely to view child abuse as less serious in the present.

This does not prove direct causation, but it suggests an important warning sign: those who were punished harshly as children may have a lower sensitivity to boundaries today. Such parents need support in rebuilding healthy standards and practicing alternatives to punishment.

4. Challenges in the Field

According to the 2023 Save the Children Korea survey:

90.6% supported mandatory parenting education

97.7% agreed parenting education is necessary

Yet only 25.7% had actually participated in such programs

Among those who had never attended, 88.1% said they were willing to participate.

Experts emphasize that high-quality parenting programs are needed — programs that help parents build their identity as caregivers, understand the harms of punishment, and practice positive parenting skills in real life.

Professor Kang Ji-young of Sookmyung Women’s University stated that opportunities must expand for parents to directly learn and practice alternatives to physical and non-physical punishment. She also argued that child rights education should be offered even to unmarried adults and those without children.

5. A Personal Reflection

In my educational career, I have often worked not with the “well-behaved” children, but with those labeled as troublemakers.

I have taught students involved in delinquent peer groups, students suffering from depression, students who self-harm, students facing severe family difficulties, students who had to go to the police station after school, and even students who had recently returned from juvenile detention.

Teachers had often given up on many of them.

Yet I witnessed change — sometimes within a single day.

How was that possible?

Did I punish them?

No.

I gave them something many had never received before:

Love.

Education is difficult, yet simple.

Love works.

Loving once may be easy. Loving consistently is hard. But enduring that difficulty is what true love is.

Self-Reflection Questions for Parents

If you experienced punishment in the past and still believe it is necessary today, consider these questions calmly:

What did I feel when I was punished as a child — understanding, or fear and sorrow?

Is my goal long-term growth, or immediate obedience?

Have I sincerely searched for methods other than punishment?

Could my child explain the reason for discipline in their own words?

Do I carefully examine how my emotions influence my reactions?

Am I managing my own parenting stress well?

Closing Thoughts

The foundation of discipline begins with remembering the feelings of our younger selves.

The child who was hit remembers it for life.

The parent who hit remembers it too.

So we must ask: Was there truly love in that memory?

When people love, they seek solutions.

When they do not, they seek excuses.

“He wouldn’t listen.”

“I had no other choice.”

Parents should not try to “fix” children through violence. Instead, they should build an environment where children can grow well without ever needing punishment.

A child is not an extension of the parent, but another human being with their own dignity.

Will we really choose to strike a child simply because they do not obey?

Starting today, write down your standards for discipline. Pause your emotions. Let every word you give your child contain love.

That is the only way to stop corporal punishment — something parents dislike, children fear, and no one truly wants.

And that choice is what it means to choose what is right over what is fast.

Columnist Profile

KIM TAE HYUN is a youth education expert and curriculum designer specializing in career development, self-directed learning, and leadership education. Widely known in the classroom as “Girin Teacher”, he is recognized for his warm communication style, relatable teaching approach, and inspiring guidance that connects naturally with young people.

From as early as his third year of middle school, he began actively exploring his own career path. Since then, he has pursued diverse media experiences as a radio DJ, one of the youngest professional event MCs, a YouTube creator, and a live commerce host—turning personal dreams into real achievements through continuous challenge and growth.

Drawing from this journey, he now helps countless students discover the essence of learning and career development, empowering them to design their own future paths with confidence.

He currently serves as a full-time instructor at Dynamic School and as an operating committee member of the Korea Youth Development Association Namdaemun District. He actively lectures in elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, universities, and educational institutions on topics including career education, self-directed learning, and leadership.

In a rapidly changing technological era, he is committed to preserving the core values of education while embracing new technologies such as AI to create future-oriented educational content. His mission is to help students grow at their own pace and take ownership of their lives.

Through his column series, Kim Taehyun’s Teen Education, he addresses real challenges faced by young people—such as academic anxiety, career uncertainty, and comparison stress—while offering sharp insights and practical solutions for teachers, parents, and education leaders.

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