JEDDAH, 4 April 2008 — Technically speaking, corporeal punishment is banned in Saudi public schools. In practice, however, it seems quite common. But teachers in Saudi Arabia hit students at their own risks. It’s not uncommon for physical abuse to be answered with physical abuse. In the most recent manifestation of this eye-for-an-eye interaction occurred in the small town of Khaybar, about 150 kilometers north of Madinah. According to the daily Al-Watan, a teacher at Al-Hassan ibn Haitham elementary school hit one of his students one too many times. The father showed up at the school and proceeded to inflict a little corporeal punishment of his own on the hapless educator. According to the report, several parents had been complaining about this particular teacher’s teaching style. Police detained both men and are looking into the conflagration in the classroom.
