His Eminence Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith has raised serious concerns over the proposed legislation aimed at banning corporal punishment for children in Sri Lanka, warning that certain Western legal standards are ill-suited to the country’s cultural and moral framework.
Speaking during the 150th Jubilee Celebration Mass organized by the alumni and teachers to mark the 150th anniversary of St. John the Baptist College, Nagoda, Kandana,
the Archbishop of Colombo urged education authorities to reconsider adopting laws that, in his view, could weaken the traditional values of respect and discipline in schools.
“This conflict between the child and the parents has created a rift. If a teacher tells a student to cut their hair, the child can go to the police and claim mental distress. That teacher could be arrested. This is wrong. We cannot accept this,” he said.
Cardinal Ranjith stressed that Sri Lanka must not blindly imitate Western models of education and child-rearing, arguing instead for a system grounded in the country’s own cultural and ethical values.
He underscored the importance of allowing teachers and parents to correct children in appropriate ways to guide them morally.
“The punishing of children to guide them on the right path should be allowed,” he said, adding that efforts to impose foreign norms could erode the foundational respect students should hold for parents and educators.
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