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Thread: How much force should a teacher use to discipline a child?

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    Administrator CatInASuit's avatar
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    Default How much force should a teacher use to discipline a child?

    Twenty or thirty years ago it used to be common for corporal punishment to be used in British schools as punishment for infractions. Nowadays, it seems that the teachers are not allowed to touch any of the pupils to discipline them.

    It seems that it has swung from one extreme to another as to how far a teacher is allowed to use physical force in the classroom. With more and more teachers being sued for any physical contact, they feel they have no backing when it comes to dealing with troublesome pupils, given that the governing bodies, more often than not, give in to the parents in these situations.

    The question is: how much force should a teacher be allowed to use when dealing with pupils.

    Is corporal punishment a good instruction to a pupil not to do something, or should no force be used at all. Should a teacher allowed to restrain a pupil if they are causing trouble without fear of a lawsuit or should schools employ people who are trained to make the decision instead and leave the teachers to teaching.

    Discipline at school is important, but should it be backed up by force or by words alone?
    In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.

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    Elen síla lumenn' omentielvo What Exit?'s avatar
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    I'm not particularly in favor of corporal punishment in the schools. If a student is a disruption, get him/her out of the class. But in general, students should not be touched by school staff unless they are a danger to themselves or others. But the US moved away from corporal punishment longer ago overall than the UK apparently. There has been no corporal punishment in the public schools the North East at least in my lifetime. From the description of Catholic Schools my sisters went to, I am glad for this, a lot of those teachers (mostly nuns) were sadistic abusers from what I have heard.

    If the student is bad, send them home and let the parents decide the punishment. If they continue to disrupt when they return, well the parents might be faced with their child being expelled.

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    A Groupie Marsilia's avatar
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    I was spanked by a teacher at least once that I remember, and the rumor of the principal's electric paddle had many of us scared of the man. Fast forward to me filling out an application to substitute teach, and I was informed that I wouldn't even be able to move a child's desk away from the rest of the class, because that would be "singling him out." Teachers' hands, if that's any indication, are pretty well tied.
    So, I'll whisper in the dark, hoping you'll hear me.

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    A Dude Peeta Mellark's avatar
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    They were still wacking kids when I was in elementary school. Last incident I know for a fact happened was eleven years ago. But it was a small private Christian school.

    I think corporal punishment should absolutely never be an option in a school. It has far too much potential for abuse and it's not for a school to be inflicting any kind of physical pain on children.

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    Corporal punishment taught me two important lessons in 1st grade:

    #1) Hanging around people who get in trouble gives the impression that you were in some way involved with said trouble.
    #2) If someone in authority thinks you did something wrong, you did something wrong.

    I can't remember the teacher or the principal's name, but I damn well remembered that lesson!

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    Administrator CatInASuit's avatar
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    So corporal punishment ie. inflicting pain as a punishment, seems to be something that should just be outlawed.

    So how far should teaches be allowed to go. Should they be able to restrain pupils who are causing trouble, though it's always going to be a judgement call. Should they be allowed to use reasonable force to break up incidents or prevent trouble.
    In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.

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    Elen síla lumenn' omentielvo What Exit?'s avatar
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    I think the teachers should be allowed to protect other students. They should of course call for help first, especially with older kids.

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    Aged Turtle Wizard Clothahump's avatar
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    I teach seminars in disruptive student management. One of the things I hear all the time is "I'll get sued if I touch a kid". My response is "Suppose a kid goes wild and attacks other kids in the classroom. You're going to be sued by every one of those sets of parents for NOT restraining the first kid. Better one than many, because the one will be dismissed."
    Political correctness will be the death of our country.

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    I don't think it should be outlawed. Unfortunately, society has changed too much for it to be effective. Used to be parents would back the teacher regardless. Now there's too much "Oh my precious snowflake!" BS.

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    The Queen Zuul's avatar
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    Quote Originally posted by hobbler View post
    I don't think it should be outlawed. Unfortunately, society has changed too much for it to be effective. Used to be parents would back the teacher regardless. Now there's too much "Oh my precious snowflake!" BS.
    Yeah, for the teachers' own sakes it's a bad idea these days, regardless of any other philosophical viewpoints on corporal punishment.

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    Stegodon
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    I think teachers should be equipped with tasers and be encouraged to use it on the little fuckers. Especially the girls.

    We are have bullying troubles at the moment.

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    Prehistoric Bitchslapper Sarahfeena's avatar
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    Quote Originally posted by Zweedo Rodriguez View post
    I think teachers should be equipped with tasers and be encouraged to use it on the little fuckers. Especially the girls.

    We are have bullying troubles at the moment.
    That's just terrible. I worry about that with my daughter, she's kind of meek.

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    A Groupie Marsilia's avatar
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    One of my step-sister's kids was being bullied pretty badly on the school bus. When she came home with a mark from being hit, my step-sister was all set to talk to her about what to do about bullies. Her younger daughter, who hasn't started school yet, saw what had happened to her sister and said "I know what I would have done, Mommy!" Her mother fell for it and asked what the younger girl would do. "I would have hit him right back!"
    So, I'll whisper in the dark, hoping you'll hear me.

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