Cane ‘can be effective behaviour control’

Behaviour among children has got worse since the cane was abolished, according to parents who were asked in 2009, more than 20 years after corporal punishment was outlawed in state schools in the UK.

Caning pupils ‘can be effective behaviour control’

 

Government research showed some mothers and fathers believed corporal punishment was an “effective method of control” when they were at school.

They said the decision to outlaw physical chastisement contributed to a decline in discipline.

The comments - in a study backed by the Department for Children, Schools and Families - come just months after a fifth of teachers called for the cane to be reintroduced to restore order in the classroom.

This week, a report by Ofsted suggested traditional discipline methods such as suspending hundreds of troublemakers at a time and banning children with shaven heads and designer trainers was a good deterrent.

Corporal punishment, including the use of the cane and ruler, was abolished in state schools in 1987 and 1998 in the fee-paying sector.

In the latest study, the Department for Children, Schools and Families held in-depth interviews with 48 adults to gauge their perception of behaviour among young people.

When asked to describe what they felt was behind a decline in discipline, they made a series of observations.

This included the “increasing demands on teachers - paper work, planning etc - leaving them less effective to teach and discipline effectively”.

The group, which included 32 parents, also cited the “suitability of some teachers to the profession”, suggesting that some lacked an ability to “instil respect and good behaviour amongst teenage pupils”.

They added that “the removal of corporal punishment in schools, which many felt had been an effective method of control in their day”, also affected discipline standards.

Margaret Morrissey, from the campaign group Parents Outloud, said: “When it was used as a threat, rather than being used to actually hit a child, corporal punishment was often an effective deterrent. It was certainly abused in some schools and it could become something of a badge of honour for those that were hit, but the threat could be effective.

“I am just not convinced that in the present climate there is a possibility it can come back. Can you imagine the number of compensation claims it would lead to?

“I really do believe that the problem for the deteriorating behaviour is the political correctness of the last 10 years that has told children to stand up and complain the moment someone tries to tell them off.”

In the study, parents also blamed the fact that “children and young people [were] becoming more vocal and demanding and at the same time less afraid of authority”.

Increasing pressure on children to be academically successful was also cited.

A survey of more than 6,000 teachers last year found more than a fifth believed the cane should be brought back.

One supply teacher told researchers: “Children’s behaviour is now absolutely outrageous in the majority of schools. I am a supply teacher, so I see very many schools and there are no sanctions. There are too many anger management people and their ilk who give children the idea that it is their right to flounce out of lessons for time out because they have problems with their temper. They should be caned instead.”

But John Dunford, of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “Thankfully, corporal punishment is no longer on the agenda, except in the most uncivilised countries. I am sure that this barbaric punishment has disappeared forever.”

As published in the Daily Telegraph, 26 February 2009

 

Picture credit: Generated by Artificial Intelligence (A.I.)

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