Youth Say - Robert Weir
Published 19 Sep 2011 14:30
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THIS week it was revealed almost half of parents, out of the 2000 asked, wanted to see corporal punishment return to the classroom.
By corporal punishment I mean the cane, the belt or a slipper because apparently a slipper is for more than keeping your feet warm.
In total, 49 per cent of parents surveyed for the Times Educational Supplement were in favour, compared with 45 per cent who were opposed.
As a pupil, it got me thinking, would it be so bad, if I were to step out of line, to be ushered up to the front of the class for my teacher to kindly take out his slipper that he brought in specially and then, for him to use it to hit me?
And the answer to that is a resounding 'Yes'. It would be very bad.
I believe that if corporal punishment were to be brought back then it wouldn't achieve anything.
Even those who had corporal punishment at school said that it did not help.
I believe that a teacher should earn respect through their personality, not through fear.
Furthermore, teachers should be spending their time on educating and not have to have the burden of caning children.
Figures show that since abolishing corporal punishment classroom behavior has improved, though this may be hard to believe, the figures speak for themselves.
I don't dispute that there is a lack of respect for teachers in some schools but, personally, I do not believe that hitting a pupil with a slipper, cane or whatever they can get their hand on, would help solve that problem.
Support remained high for most traditional punishments, including sending children out of class (89 per cent), after-school detentions (88 per cent), lunchtime detentions (87 per cent), expelling or suspending children (84 per cent) and making them write lines (77 per cent).
However, shouting at children was less popular, backed by only 55 per cent of parents, and embarrassing children was frowned upon, with just 21 per cent of parents supporting it.
The government has said that instead of corporal punishment, better training techniques would help teachers tackle classroom problems without having to resort to what one could call violence.
I am fairly convinced that it will never come back as it would contravene something known as human rights, which are more prevalent than those 50 years ago.
Corporal punishment was not the only topic being discussed. Parents and pupils were also asked which celebrity they would most like to be taught by or have their children taught by and unsurprisingly, for male teachers, Stephen Fry came out on top, with 40 per cent of the votes, closely followed by David Attenborough, who managed to receive 35 per cent.
Harry Potter character Albus Dumbledore (36 per cent), Yoda from Star Wars (26 per cent) and TV chef Jamie Oliver (also 26 per cent) topped the students' choices.
For female teachers, former Countdown host Carol Vorderman (48 per cent) was parents' favourite, followed by actress Helen Mirren (36 per cent).
And among pupils, Harry Potter author JK Rowling (40 per cent) was most popular, followed by Miss Honey from Roald Dahl's Matilda (26 per cent).
David Beckham, Simon Cowell, Jeremy Clarkson, Michael Mcintyre and Dawn French were also included in some of the favourites. There is hope for a number of teaching staff!
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