These are some of the responses to this question recieved from Education Students at The University of Southern Queensland -
Response 1:
I am not sure I would like to see the cane come back into classrooms. I went to school in cane times. Some of the teachers were quite good at using it for anything. We would have a spelling test or a maths test each Friday and the teacher would hit you across the hand once for each mistake. You learnt not to get anything wrong. My teacher would walk around the room swirling the cane and as students we were quite frightened of him because you would never know when he would strike - weren't holding your pencil correctly or sitting up straight and I could go on. The cane seem to give the teachers power or at the time that is what we thought. I have worked in schools were they have the responsible thinking process. This was good for some students but to others it was a way of misbehaving in class and being suspended- they then could do what ever they liked during the day, anything but school work. My opinion is a good teacher has the respect from the class and behaviour isn't a problem. Again while working in classrooms as a teacher aide, I found that the teacher who engaged the students were the ones that had no problems. In the media we hear people saying that it is entirely the teachers fault but I disagree - behaviour is taught and demonstrated at home from a very early age. I think respect is something that should be taught at home.
Response 2:I have to agree with you on, no return of the cane. My partner went to a catholic boy’s school that was a strong advocate of corporal punishment. You would be hit for minor infractions such as a crooked tie, after a while the punishment meant nothing it became a competition to see who could get the most whacks in one go. My partner had the school record at one stage for 32 (16 on each hand) in one go, he still brags about it to this day. Quite opposite to the effect it was supposed to create, the boys behaviour became much more unruly. The teachers basically used to hit the boys out of frustration or anger and some seemed to enjoy hitting people. This is just another form of bullying and taught young boys that it was OK for men in positions of authority to use physical force to get their way, or relieve frustration. There are much better ways!
Response 3:In my year 7 class, I don't think there was room for competition because if this teacher thought that the last caning didn't sink in enough, well the next time it would be harder. I remember once the cane actually cut the skin of 1 boy. I think things like that were pushed under the mat as to say. I am really glad it did go out because I can't think what it would be like today with the behavioural problems we have in schools these days. I could imagine teachers being sued by parents because the students would lie about what they really did. I know this sounds horrible but as a teacher aide, I was in a circumstance where the teacher and I had to really stick to our digs and make the principal and parents realise that our story was right. It is a hard world out there but I hope that through experience watching other teachers and taking on board how they manage their classroom, I can go out and handle any situations that I am situated in.
Response 4:
I too agree with you. If a teacher has achieved the students respect then misbehaviour within their classroom should be minimal. I have just recently finished high school last year so I have never experienced corporal punishment, nor do I want to, but without the stories told by my parents I would seem that the cane and the wooden ruler were all but a myth. I am split down the middle, believing the cane should not be bought back in, however some children's behaviour is outrageous that the thought of the cane may be the only way. Me personally I have grown up with the responsible thinking classroom, a room where you can go during classes, lunch and up until recently after school, where you are required to work out a plan and action to avoid a repeat of the action that had sent you to the responsible thinking classroom to begin with, weather this be disturbing the classroom or fighting you were not allowed back out into the classroom and playground until the referring teacher was satisfied with the plan you had made. A negative is I found that, if a student doesn't like that teacher or class they would deliberately get sent to this classroom so they didn't have to do the work, but generally this would in personally opinion be the best method over using the cane.Just in further reference, my parents although they didn't enjoy it, they said the cane was the best way to straighten people out. So it is just a choice of preference and what people see as ethical.
Response 5:I agree with your parents. It did work well and a lot of respect was gained by the students. I also would not like to see it back but I think if they did, it would be the responsibility of the principal. When I was at school, some teachers used it to show power. Believe you me the cane stories are not myths they are real!!!! Some thing I try to forget because I have some horrible memories of other students getting the cane and the damage caused by it.
Response 6:I don't think that the cane should be brought back into schools but i do believe that teachers should have more power to discipline the students when they are misbehaving in the classroom. I think that all the media about teachers having the responsibility of teaching children respect and discipline is ridiculous if the teachers are not allowed to enforce the rules. Having said that i am not sure how they should go about it.
Response 7:I don't think the cane should be reintroduced to school's either. I have heard although, that some private school's are still using some form of corporal punishment, be it the cane or another discipline 'implement'. If I were a parent, I personally would not send my children to a school where the cane was used as punishment. I would prefer the responsibility of discipline and respect to be learnt at home, and if the child were misbehaving at school, I would expect to hear about this from either the principal or the teacher, and I would then address this at home.
