Should corporal punishment in schools stay legal?

[IAN 2411]

I remember when it was legal in the UK, because they were the days when all children under the age of 15 respected their elders. They respected their teachers and police priests and shop owners, the next door neighbour was called Mr or Mrs.

And the summers were always sunny, and you could get a ticket for the flicks, a fish supper and a couple of pints and still have change from a shilling. Meanwhile back in the real world, researchers for the past fifty years have been looking at actual figures and getting the same answer: the level of violent crime, and youth violence in particular, has been falling steadily in both Europe.

Sarcasm is the poorest form of wit.

And the other thing they consistently find is that violent crime is usually committed by people who were physically punished as children. As families with such childrearing practices have become more of a visible minority, it's become more evident that they are raising the next generation of criminals.
But of course this is just facts, and I don't expect it to change your beliefs.

Of course I will leo9 as soon as you tell me which England you live on, because it is not the one on my world. Every week that goes by as at least two deaths are reported and one is normally knife crime in the UK, [12-18 year olds] and there are also gang related incidents every day almost. These are the children that grew up with no discipline at home or at school so that throws your theory right out the window. Where the experts that came up with this tosh should be thrown, because they obviously know damn all.

Things have changed now the anti smacking people came and messed that right up, with their don’t hit your child it is assault, and right behind them come the police and the welfare people to take them into care. In care they are taught to look after themselves on the street, because the welfare said their parents never cared but then again their parents were never asked.

Since I know a fair bit at firsthand about the care system, I'd comment on this if I could make out what you're saying.

Then you obviously don’t know as much as you think. A friend of mine’s child at 4 years old slipped from her hand; she dropped her shopping and grabbed him with one foot in the main road just before he stepped under a lorry. She chastised him by shouting at him and gave him two light smacks with her hand on his covered buttocks. I know this to be true because i was a witness for her defence in court. A neighbour saw the incident and reported her to the police and that night the “WELFARE” with 4 policemen took the child into care. It was six months before the case came to court and she was given her child back without and bad record about her. It was heavy handed and I might add the child is still traumatised now, and she has also received substantial damages. I can understand in certain circumstances where the welfare is needed, but they at times get too far ahead of themselves.

It upset me for that day but even then it gave you status in the school. Once you were home you got a crack around the back of the head for being a head ache to your parents but by ten that night it was all forgotten. It is not unsafe, it teaches respect and that is something that is lacking in young adults today, if you are not taught respect then you will never learn respect.

I went to a school that didn't use physical punishment even when they were still allowed to. We respected the teachers because they were good teachers, not because they might thump us. The only teacher we really didn't respect was one who came in as a substitute from the local grammar school for a couple of terms: he had no idea how to deal with kids he couldn't threaten with violence. As many other posters have said, anyone who can't teach without physical punishment is a bad teacher.

Where in my post have I said we never respected the teachers, and it was not given in class because we feared them? I cannot remember the time when any teacher would thump a pupil or for that matter strike one. We did have one that was very accurate with a piece of flicked chalk, but that was all.

Regards ian 2411