[Jan Fisher]

There’s a guy in Queensland who wants to bring back caning in schools.

Sorry sir, but I feel we have moved on.

Ken Cunliffe thinks we have thrown the baby out with the bathwater by banning the cane and bringing it back would stop a lot of people ending up in jail.

I have a few problems with this. I see plenty of adults behaving in a way that would have got the cane in my youth, but no one is calling for that because it would be considered barbaric. Yet there is always someone who wants to beat children.

Ask anyone of a certain age one of the most traumatic episodes of their life in childhood and it was often either being caned or watching someone being caned or strapped.

I once watched a female teacher systematically strap several children when some money went missing, trying to find out who did it. I will never forget that day. Not only did she clearly beat four or five innocent children, the actual offender was never discovered. I can’t imagine taking a strap to one child, let alone lining them up for the same.

Another problem is: please show me the evidence that strapping or caning children stops them ending up in prison or committing further crimes.

Do you think we should take up caning children again?

[[email protected]]

Oh yes we do need to discipline children and if that requires caning then so be it.
I was caned at school and I fully deserved it, it helped me understand that there are consequences for my actions.

[driag]

You and people with the same opinion, have led to a society that has no respect for their pedants, teachers, the whole community and the law. I had the cane in school in the 1950s, It taught me not to break the rules, respect the words of my seniors and brought me into a respectable adulthood. It didn’t turn in to a juvenile delinquent, a criminal or bully. There is too much pampering of the younger generation. Bring back corporal punishment and lets go back to a decent and respectable community

[Gezzar]

Corporal punishment does not teach you right from wrong. That is a fallacy. My school and my family taught me right from wrong. Too many parents send their children to school then expect to teachers to discipline them. When you advocate violence and send a message to children that it’s OK to hurt another then many will take that learning into their adult life.
To those who say it never did them any harm I take it you enjoyed the pain. If adults wish to champion hitting children then I assume you would advocate adults being caned for a misdemeanour. Or are you a bunch of hypocrites?

[[email protected]]

100% bring it back. It taught me right from wrong which appears to be lacking in many of todays youth.
I haven’t met anyone who was traumatised by either being caned or watching a caning.

[Gezzar]

In the 1950s at boarding school we would misbehave after lights out. Caught, we would be sent to queue outside the Housemaster’s room where each would enter to receive six strokes of the cane across the backside. We would go back to the dormitory in silence and after a while sleep. But once the memory of the pain had left we would once again misbehave after lights out. Like any risk management we built in the possibility of a caning and would see who could be the bravest at taking the punishment. Such violence on an eleven-year-old served little purpose.
But to all those who advocate corporal punishment on children why not apply it to adults as well? How many here will agree to receiving a canning for, say, a traffic offence? If corporal punishment is good for children why not adults?

[52-KID]

We definitely need to find a punishment that works. From what I hear the kids are pretty much running rampant at school, showing no respect for teachers or students. I know not all students are like this, but enough that there is a lot of bullying happening even to teachers. Whatever measures they are using now is absolutely useless. Unless somebody can come up with something more effective than the cane (used properly, perhaps by only the headmaster) then the cane needs to be brought back. I was punished as school and don’t bear any trauma from it – people are getting too “politically correct” with their children’s upbringing. I know there will be LOTS of people who don’t agree with me, but this is just my opinion

[Jenny]

The modern-day method of bringing up children has failed, in my opinion. A smack on the behind is a reasonable way of giving emphasis to the spoken word when the child is young, many will mostly take little real notice of what you say. Children can grow up very wilful if they receive nothing in the way of discipline, with little respect for others’ rights and property. Of course, there are many children also who don’t need this kind of discipline, and never will. It’s the ones who are driven by impulse and recklessness who need to be reined in for their own future welfare, as they are the ones causing havoc in the high schools as well as frequenting the law courts and youth justice system.

[Jacka]

Yes Jan, you and those like you are the problem with society today. No discipline, don’t punish the child or anybody else for misconduct. Not only should Corporal Punishment be brought back and use vigorously, but parents should be able to discipline their children as they see fit, without idiots like you looking down on them and demanding that they lives their lives according to the doctorate of Jan Fisher and the like. The Children’s Court should be abolished and all these little toe rags running around breaking it homes, stealing cars, assaulting and murdering people should be given a good flogging and placed in a real jail not a holiday camp or rehabilitation centre. If they persist bring back Capital Punishment and solve the problem permanently. That’s what’s wrong with society today, all the Bleeding Hearts out there, Social Workers, Psychologists, the list goes on, poor little diddims, they had it tough. You, your wife, your son, your daughter, are just as dead if they were stabbed by a 10 year old as opposed to a 40-year-old. Wake up and smell the coffee you more than likely over educated under intelligent being. Jacka.

[Tis only me]

Wow! Jacka, spewing vitriol aren’t you! Totally inappropriate – you could do with some self-discipline and education yourself! Jan isn’t suggesting kids shouldn’t be punished or disciplined – she’s just questioning the wisdom of corporal punishment. I recall when in year 6 many moons ago, the cane being meted out in front of the whole class to the SAME kids week in and week out (by the deputy headmaster, who was an ex-rugby player and a very strong bloke who didn’t hold back much when that cane went down), so obviously corporal punishment wasn’t working. I won’t go as far as to say I was traumatized but it certainly sticks very clearly in my memory. Discipline needs to start in the home and I agree that many parents need education in appropriate ways to discipline their children but corporal punishment isn’t the answer. I think many parents who hit their kids do so out of frustration when they don’t know of any other way to rein their kids in. It’s a complex societal problem which can’t be ‘fixed’ by belting someone!

[JEPY]

I agree 100% with the majority of the above writers: Corporal punishment is essential for a stable society. I am curious to know what the age of the group referred to in “Ask anyone of a certain age one of the most traumatic episodes of their life in childhood and it was often either being caned or watching someone being caned or strapped.” I have come across a few such people, but too few to determine a specific age range. Being easily ‘traumatised” appears to be a modern problem, as most people in past centuries eagerly watched public floggings and executions without being “traumatised”.

[David Watherston]

While caning may not be the answer, what we are doing at the moment is just not working. Somewhere along the line children (and some adults) need to realise that there are “consequences” for their actions.
Have you ever watched a juvenile magpie being taught “consequences” by its mother. It appears to be very cruel but the juvenile magpie learns that there are rules to be obeyed. A bitch will deal swiftly with a puppy that is behaving in unreasonable manner towards its siblings.
Respect seems to be at the root of the problem and respect is earned not a given. Parents who respect themselves and others have a right to demand respect from their offspring. The vast majority of our youngsters are responsible people who will eventually be running our society and should be admired. A minority still have to learn about responsibility and consequences. It is our responsibility to teach them even if it means using harsh punishment when other method fail.
I went to a one teacher school in the 1950 -60s and our headteacher was respected, had never had to use a cane until the last year that I attended. One student did not respond to the “respect” model and sadly had to be caned. That headteacher never taught again, was broken hearted and I guess felt that he had failed (not the pupil). He died on the first day of the new term (probably from a broken heart). This was in the days before we could put it down to ADHD or some other lame excuse. Use the cane when absolutely necessary as it is a lesson well learned.

[Gezzar]

In the 1950s at boarding school we would misbehave after lights out. Caught, we would be sent to queue outside the Housemaster’s room where each would enter to receive six strokes of the cane across the backside. We would go back to the dormitory in silence and after a while sleep. But once the memory of the pain had left we would once again misbehave after lights out. Like any risk management we built in the possibility of a caning and would see who could be the bravest at taking the punishment. Such violence on an eleven-year-old served little purpose.
But to all those who advocate corporal punishment on children why not apply it to adults as well? How many here will agree to receiving a canning for, say, a traffic offence? If corporal punishment is good for children why not adults?

[Author]

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