SHOULD TEACHERS STRAP?

Shannon News, 18 March 1924, Page 4

SHOULD TEACHERS STRAP?

CORRORAL PUNISHMENT IN SCHOOLS. retention generally FAVOURED. Should corporal punishment be allowed in our schools? This eviar-xeeurring question has been raised once more at the court and by correspondence in tfle result of a recent case. in the Dunedin npwspapers. The question whether corporal punishment should be allowed _ in. pur schools is one upon which there has been a difference of opinion for very many years. Following the case, in tbp court at Dunedin says the Star, it was represented that strapping was overdone in many of our local schools, but careful inquiries seem to show that such is not the case in most schools. The in formation gained shows that tpachers generally use the leather, in the words of the boards regulation on the subject, 1 ‘.sparingly and with due deliberation. At the same time there are indications that in one or two instances more weight is used behind the strap than is necessary. It was,nlso represented to us that tne strap was used much more freely m Dunedin than in the north, but at least two teachers who have had experience i in the north state that the position is much the same Kero as in other parts of Npw' Zealand. The opinions of a number of people on the subject and the Board's regulation governing the matter are appended. Little Strapping Nepessary. One well-known retired headmaster, who had charge of one of our largest schools for about fifteen years, stated in answer to an inquiry that he believed in as sparing a use of the strap as possible. He pneouraged his staff to use it as seldom as possible. “I made it a rule," he said, "not to inflict punishment on a child who could not do certain work. My view of the matter is that cither the youngster is dull or he has not been taught propprly. I instructed the teachers in such cases to take the pupil by himself and find out who was to blame—the pupil or the teacher himself. This method workjed very well, and I carried on with very little strapping. The members of the staff agreed with my methods and very flew complaints were received from parents during the time I was at the school." Asked for his experience of the attitude of Other teachers in regard to corporal punishment, our informant said he thought that,. as this general rule, it was not carried beyond bounds in most schools. He had heard it said of certain schools that the strap was used indiscriminately, but he could not give any specific details. This gentleman was headmaster of a school that during his supervision was noted for its efficiency. When he retired he was met by a very large number of parents, and ex-pupils came from near and far to do him honour. The writer, .-who attended the school, can bear testimony to the excellent discipline which prevailed there, despite, the sparing use of the strap. Matter of Temperament.

The interviewer happened to mention the subject of corporal punishment to; a business friend who is the father of two children, a boy and,a girl. This gentleman said he was one of those who sympathised very much with school teachers. His own children, he said, were so different in'temperaments that he understood why teachers had to use the'strap. Hi% girl was amenable to persuasion, but his boy was entirely the opposite, and required much more than persuasion to induce him to do anything that was required. "There is too much scutiment in some parents," continued the speaker, "and they think their children, whom they have ‘spoilt, ’ should not be touched by-a teacher. Such a position is not fair to a teacher, who is paid to do his job, and who, if the child does not respond to the correct methods of imparting knowledge, should be entitled to use th» strap. At the same time, I do not advocate any brutal strapping, such as would leave bruises or marks on a child's hand. I am presuming an ordinary standard of intelligence in a pupil. In the case of the very dull pupil, a different method is needed. In such a case the teacher should have sufficient intelligence to know that strapping will not improve things, but only make them worse. I am , quite convinced that corporal punishment is needed in our schools, particularly ‘wild' boys. It should not be used for girls, however, unless in exceptional cases. * Take the case of youthful offenders who come before the Juvenile Court. The boy who'is ordered a ■thrashing by the rarefy comes back, but the boy who is let off on probation or with some, other form of punishment often appears again." Punishments Exaggerated.

A male teacher who has served, in four or five largo schools in the city, and who was previously teaching in the North Island, informed the writer that there was no need for any alarm. "The big majority of teachers have sufficient common sense to know that severe corporal punishment is a thing of the. past. Almost all the teachers I have met have used their straps very sparingly. One knows that there are parents who complain of their children being unnecessarily punished by the teacher when they liave absolutely no justification for making such a complaint. That is the experience of many teachers. Many children, of course (like grownups), are not very truthful, and a slight strapping on the hand is exaggerated into a severe thrashing by the time the child reaches home. I must frankly admit that I believe in the retention of corporal punishment. Some children may be easily led; others have to be driven. By ‘driven' I do hot mean severe castigation, but a stroke of a strap now and again makes all the difference to a wayward child. I also claim that many a child's life has been improved by the influence of a gopd teabher, who used the strap discriminatingly upon him, and countered'the opposing influence of indifljsr-cnt-;or -careless parents. I must state

again that I believe in corporal punishment, but am strongly averse to anything in the way of striking a child on the head or causing severe physical pain. If propertly administered, a leather strap will "sting" a child's hand only for a short time—but long enough to impress upon him the fact that he has left something undqne that ho should have done, or done something he should not.have done." Unnecessarily Hard. The headmaster of a city school said that corporal punishment was necessary, and was all right as long as it was carried out in the spirit of the Board's regulations. He knew of some cases, however, where the strapping was unnecessarily hard, and where the parents had a right to complain. Most of the teachers in Dunedin, he thought, could be relied on to treat the children properly. After all, it was a matter of the individual teacher, though the headmaster was nominally in charge. There were some teachers, just like people in other walks of life, who had bad tampers, and who sometimes unfortunately lost them when when strappings children.. This was regrettable, and teachers-, who were supposed to use their brains, should be very careful not to. lot this happon. He agreed that any such offences should hot bej treated lightly.