PETALING JAYA: Reactions to a proposal that caning be introduced for female students have been largely negative.

Psychologist Gerard Joseph Louis said that any sort of corporal punishment had its downside and those carrying out caning should be mindful of the impact.

"Caning instils fear and educators should become mentors students can learn from instead of figures to be feared," he said.

"Time needs to be taken to understand why students are not conforming and where the problems are coming from," he said.

Universiti Sains Malaysia criminologist Dr P. Sundramoorthy said caning for girls was extremely brutal and would not deter future acts of deviance.

He added that there were very few countries which used corporal punishment on women, even in prisons.

National Union of the Teaching Profession secretary-general Loke Yim Pheng said caning for girls should only be allowed with conditions.

"If a girl is to be caned, she should only be caned by a woman on her hands or legs and not by a man, as he would be too strong and too harsh," she said.

As for public caning, Loke said the Education Ministry needed to get feedback before implementing it as the self-esteem of a child was very important.

National Parent-Teacher Associations Collaborative Council president Datuk Dr Mohd Ali Hassan said it was only fair that a female teacher caned a female student, and that caning should only be the last resort when it came to punishment.

Elisa Tan Lee Yan, 16, said girls could not take caning as they are softer than guys.

"If you want to punish us, make us wash the toilets instead. That's already punishment in itself," she said.