corporal punishment - never did me any harm

[dellzeqq]

...although it convinced me that the person dealing it out was a savage......

apparently half the country's parents think we should be beating schoolchildren who misbehave. Happy days! Given the job prospects of today's school leavers it's probably as well to introduce them to the art of suffering at an early age - but I'm concerned that the Panjandrums of Health and Safety and Gender Equality might be just a little put out by the great British tradition of putting a young person across a desk.

Should corporal punishment be modernised? Might there be a Google App that delivers an electric shock to the more delicate parts of the brain? How about a bit of waterboarding - not the full monty, of course, but just a gentle immersion in a (pre-warmed) bath for, say, 45 seconds. Better yet, could we not have a rising scale of laser tattoos, from 'LATE HOMEWORK' discreetly placed on a shoulder to 'THREW PUNCH AT TEACHER' emblazoned across the forehead, all designed to government standards and controlled by PowerPoint.

This being the era of privatisation I presume that wealthier pupils will be able to hire less minted kids to take their punishment for them - in the style of Charles I whose 'whipping boy' wound up with the delightful Ham House http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-hamhouse/w-hamhouse-history.htm

So - how do we bring beating kids in to the 21st century?

 

[numbnuts]

It would never work today, can you image a 12-13 year old holding his hand out to receive the cane, more than lightly the teacher would be told to f*** off or knifed by the said pupil

 

[Angelfishsolo]

So all teachers need to be former Special Forces / MMA fighters / Hard Bastards. Corporal punishment would need a mimimum of two staff members in case there are any reports of wrong doing. One holds the pupil down, the other stamps on his/her I-Pod. Sorted

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Those teachers, between the wars and immediately post WWII, doling out beatings....


PTSD anyone?

 

[chillyuk]

I am an ex approved school boy (Court Lees, plenty online about it) and caning was a regular occurance. We would have to take our cordury shorts off and put PE shorts on, then bend over a vaulting horse and be held down whilst the strokes were applied. I was caned very regularly because I was a persistant absconder, and the beatings were applied so hard that the skin on my backside would split and bleed. Nowadays the caner would end up in prison for assault and child abuse. I could also speak of the effect of 3 months in solitary confinement on a 13-14 year old boy but I prefer to try and leave it all in the past.

Anyone who thinks that a hard beating will change behaviour is an idiot.

 

[Kleban]

Yep; I've had my share of being caned for wrongdoing. Wasn't very pleasant at the time, but the lesson was learned.

 

[growingvegetables]

Oh **** - I'm old enough to have started teaching when corporal punishment was still legal.

Induction to a new job as a new teacher consisted entirely of a senior member of staff taking me aside to check whether I had a belt (this was Scotland - and I didn't) and whether I knew how to use it (I didn't - so he showed me techniques to increase the pain ... *******) ----- and made sure I knew where to borrow one when I needed it.

In my 2 years in that job, one single kid pushed and pushed and pushed his behaviour ......... until I'd to borrow the ******* thing, and belted him.

And the guy came in ... aye, brought his mother in! ... the next day to apologise.

Hmmm - turns out it was all for a £2.00 bet (this was a LONG time ago) that he could get belted by each of his teachers .... Duuuuuuuh! And he wanted to apologise because I'd held out the longest, and "it hurt you, sir, more than it hurt me".

Funny - 35 years later, his is the only name and face I remember. Betcha the guy did good!

 

[Angelfishsolo]

I certainly grew up to respect (NOT fear) authority and respect is something missing from society today. Not sure if CP is the answer but I do wonder if the softly, softly approach has spawned a generation or two of children with no respect for any authority and a belief they can do whatever they wish with impunity.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Oh **** - I'm old enough to have started teaching when corporal punishment was still legal.

Induction to a new job as a new teacher consisted entirely of a senior member of staff taking me aside to check whether I had a belt (this was Scotland - and I didn't) and whether I knew how to use it (I didn't - so he showed me techniques to increase the pain ... *******) ----- and made sure I knew where to borrow one when I needed it.

In my 2 years in that job, one single kid pushed and pushed and pushed his behaviour ......... until I'd to borrow the ******* thing, and belted him.

And the guy came in ... aye, brought his mother in! ... the next day to apologise.

Hmmm - turns out it was all for a £2.00 bet (this was a LONG time ago) that he could get belted by each of his teachers .... Duuuuuuuh! And he wanted to apologise because I'd held out the longest, and "it hurt you, sir, more than it hurt me".

Funny - 35 years later, his is the only name and face I remember. Betcha the guy did good!

You know something I bet he did turn out to be a good 'un.

 

[Jezston]

Corporal Punishment could work on some kids, would just reinforce violent behaviour in others.

Some people given the power to dole out beatings on children will certainly abuse it, and how do you keep checks on it?

It's not worth it.

Corporal punishment, like capital punishment, public executions, laws against homosexuality, inequal rights between sexes and races and religious law is something that society moves on from, not reverts back to.

 

[growingvegetables]

Corporal Punishment ... is something that society moves on from, not reverts back to.

+1

 

[SquareDaff]

You need to get kids attention 1st. Install Mobile Phone jammers in all schools as standard (of course you'd have to make said device legal 1st). Turn it on whenever school starts - off when school ends.

 

[gavroche]

there is a big difference between beating up and just a slap in the face or on the bum.
To me, corporal punishment is not about beating up some kids but just a slap. That is acceptable in my book and has never done any harm.
Nowadays, kids are punished by rewarding them with some new gadget as parents feel guilty about telling them off. Crap!!! If a kid deserves to be punished , then so be it, so long as they know why and understand the reasons of the punishment.
Society is far too soft nowadays, hence all the troubles we have. Kids have no guidelines to respect.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

there is a big difference between beating up and just a slap in the face or on the bum.
To me, corporal punishment is not about beating up some kids but just a slap. That is acceptable in my book and has never done any harm.
Nowadays, kids are punished by rewarding them with some new gadget as parents feel guilty about telling them off. Crap!!! If a kid deserves to be punished , then so be it, so long as they know why and understand the reasons of the punishment.
Society is far too soft nowadays, hence all the troubles we have. Kids have no guidelines to respect.

Well said.

 

[Silver Fox]

I got the cane at school and in fairness I deserved it. Never did me any harm and kept me on the straight and narrow.

As a rebellious teenager it certainly focused my mind on behaving myself.

It's funny when you look back at the teachers you had, the strict ones were always the best.