Teacher bemoan new punishments not as effective as caning

 When corporal punishment was abolished nothing was put in its place that had equivalent deterrent powers, teachers’ conference hears.

‘Pupils are not afraid of new methods of punishment’

SCHOOLS need new ways of disciplining badly behaved students because they are no longer afraid of current punishments, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers conference was told.

Teachers have had nothing as effective as corporal punishment to use for unruly pupils since it was abolished in 1986, members said.

They called for more research to be done into what sanctions they can use to bring back order into classrooms.

ATL member Julian Perfect said: “This is not a rallying call to start thrashing people left right and centre.

“But when corporal punishment was abolished nothing was put in its place that had equivalent deterrent powers”.

He added that new forms of misbehaviour include pupils taking mobile phones into the classroom. Delegates voted unanimously for research into “effective” disciplinary methods.

As published in Evening Standard (London), 4 April 2012

Picture credit: The Hotspur

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