The only fly in the ointment is where there are ‘set tarrifs’ for offences such as smoking for example.
Given that here in the UK girls smoke more than boys, using the cane as an automatic penalty for such things might bring such a compromise as I suggest down on it’s knees quite quickly. It will be a sad day when in Australia, a total ban comes into force, which it will, if entrenched views conflict with commonly held opinions about fairness and equality are ignored.
Slightly off topic, but it is also my view that parents and especially mothers. are now making the same mistake in treating boys as girls. The results can be seen all around us and especially on the street late at night, after heavy under age drinking. Not withstanding the fact that here in the UK we are only a whisker away from a total ban on smacking of one’s offspring, the fact that young mothers do not chastise their sons with sufficient vigour, if at all, is leading us to a dark and lonely place.
