Should corporal punishment in schools stay legal?

[MMI]

I used to work as a volunteer for a homeopathic consultancy in the Home Counties once, many years ago, for a 6 week period while I was out of work. I was impressed by the fact that - so far as I was aware - not one person was cured of anything while I was there, although everyone who became a member was committted to paying a fee for every visit, and a series of appointments were made for them stretching into the future. Perhaps I was participating in a cynical fraud on gullible patients. I hope not.

I console myself with the knowledge that on a few occasions, patients were told that homeopathy could not help them, and they should seek help from an aleopathic practitioner, because only their drugs would be of any help. You should have seen the incredulous looks on their faces.

Anyway, that's all beside the point.

I understand and accept what you say about research gathering demonstrable facts in order to provide complete understanding: so, the quality of the research must depend upon the accuracy of the facts gathered. When you seek solutions based upon wholly fictitious information (spurious research), therefore, no matter how sensible the answer proposed might be, it is meaningless, because it tries to answer a non-existent problem.

I find that hard to relate to the "real" problem of how to ensure children arrive at school on time. When I was at school - and I went to more schools than most people have done - I found that in some I faced playtime detention if I was late, and in others that, if I was late more than twice in a week, or some other period, I would be caned.

Detention was fun ... a camaraderie of rascals engaged in a perpetual struggle against the tyranny of the Masters, bravely resisting their cruel punishments. Always, the Detention Room was occupied by the same villains and miscreants.

The cane was something I would avoid as much as possible because of its inherent unpleasantness (I was uninitiated in the ways of my fellow posters here at the time, of course, and anyway, I would prefer to cane rather than be caned). I believe the other boys preferred not to receive it, too. Some of those who did even cried, but not I.

That summarises my experience, which was real, so far as I can remember. I would equate that experience with research that showed one particular course of action would be likely to succeed while another would be less likely to.

If not such experiences as I have related, what other research could provide any kind of answer to the problem?

[Thorne]

I used to work as a volunteer for a homeopathic consultancy in the Home Counties once, many years ago, for a 6 week period while I was out of work. I was impressed by the fact that - so far as I was aware - not one person was cured of anything while I was there, although everyone who became a member was committted to paying a fee for every visit, and a series of appointments were made for them stretching into the future. Perhaps I was participating in a cynical fraud on gullible patients. I hope not.

I don't know if cynical applies, but it was certainly fraud, even if unintentional. It's possible that some practitioners of homeopathy really do believe their own fantasies.

I console myself with the knowledge that on a few occasions, patients were told that homeopathy could not help them, and they should seek help from an aleopathic practitioner, because only their drugs would be of any help. You should have seen the incredulous looks on their faces.

In truth, homeopathy couldn't help any of them beyond the placebo effect. The incredulity arises from the fact that they bought into the 'magic water' story hook, line and sinker.

I understand and accept what you say about research gathering demonstrable facts in order to provide complete understanding: so, the quality of the research must depend upon the accuracy of the facts gathered. When you seek solutions based upon wholly fictitious information (spurious research), therefore, no matter how sensible the answer proposed might be, it is meaningless, because it tries to answer a non-existent problem.

The problem may not be non-existent, but the solution you are trying to bring about may be. Homeopathy is a perfect example of that. Study after study, by reputable scientists, have shown that homeopathy is bogus. The basic concept of water having 'memory' is without evidence of any kind.

If not such experiences as I have related, what other research could provide any kind of answer to the problem?

This kind of research is tricky because you are dealing with human responses and emotions. And not being a researcher I would have difficulty designing a line of inquiry about it anyway. But basically you would have to record a lot of information taken from various schools and teachers, stating the kinds of punishments issued, the infractions they were issued for, the uniformity of the punishments, the numbers of repeat offenders, and much, much more. And even then your results will be tentative since you are dealing with individuals. One person's response to punishment may be quite different from another. Walter the wimp might be sufficiently affected by a note home to his parents, while Mary the masochist might go out of her way to receive a caning a week.

In short, I doubt there is one specific answer to the problem. Personally, I don't see something as minor as tardiness to be a caning offense in the first place. And most discipline can be taken care of by getting the parents involved. But whatever code the school applies, it has to be done uniformly and fairly. Caning one child for arriving five minutes late while assigning detention to another child for striking a teacher will only confuse the kids and lead to worse problems.