In Africa, discipline isn't a topic to play with in parenting, after all, they say, spare the rod and spoil the child. It is taken so seriously that sometimes, people do not even mind the kind of punishment they give to children, as long as it serves the purpose of "disciplining" them.
These punishments can be anything from hitting the child involved, to the very case I consider extreme, that is, applying pepper on a child's sensitive parts, to "teach him or her a lesson."
Growing up, I did a lot of stuff, deserving extreme punishments, but I thank God my parents never got the inspiration to go that far with me. I only heard people talk about it, and elders who use it as threats to keep children from misbehaving. Imagine been told you'll have hot pepper applied in your eyes, all over your body and in your private part, you'll surely call yourself to order!
However, I got something close to an experience today. Here's the gist. so it's Sunday, and I tried fixing a meal for my folks. I decided to prepare or grind my pepper using a wooden mortar and pestle.
My pepper was fresh and so had quite an amount of fluid in it. As I tried to grind the pepper by pounding, Some of the pepper particles flew into my eyes, face, and my arms. I lack the diction to qualify the hotness I felt. A terrible feeling I can't wish on someone else, something I have never felt before.
At that point, I imagined what children who's parents employ pepper application as a form of punishment go through. A kind of hotness they don't deserve. Wickedness that should never be condoned.
The truth is, pepper application does nothing to change a child, it will only succeed in depositing fear in that child. It doesn't change anything, hence, it's more of an act of wickedness than an act of discipline.
Whatever you do, in a bid to raise your child right, or to punish such child for misbehaving, don't ever think of pepper. Try something else instead!