there’s a difference between corporal punishment and a detention – and that is, that once the cane is given, it can’t be taken back – and as it is desirable in most cases that it is administered in as timely a fashion as possible, that means any appeals process has to be quick. Detentions, by […]

It’s a different situation – one in which a student is complaining they are being punished in a way they disagree with, but are not disputing the fact that they deserve to be punished or claiming there is a reason for leniency. By my reading, it’s also a situation where the student is trying to […]

I’d prefer it to extend to all punishments as well – however there are practical considerations that make that awkward. It basically comes down to numbers – the appeals process in this school can handle the amount of appeals generated by corporal punishment. If we applied that process to (say) detentions – which occur at […]

From an objective viewpoint, the adults’ definition probably is better than a child’s but the child’s subjective view is what’s going to affect her (or his) behaviour. If I had been given a punishment that I thought was unfairly harsher than that given to my “partner in crime”, I would have strongly resented that and […]

That’s my argument against exempting girls from CP in schools where it’s used for boys. It not only guarantees some girls will never get what they need, it also introduces the problems caused by injustice. I might have done reasonably well in a school that didn’t have CP at all so long as I was […]

Seriously, there’s often no absolutely clear answer on this – sometimes all you can do is make the best judgement you can and use it as your basis for making decisions. When I try to be fair, by default, I am relying on my definition of what is and isn’t fair. I can’t rely on […]

The best definition possible – and frankly, I think that will more often be a definition arrived at by adults than one arrived at by children. I agree there is a problem when a child feels they’ve been unfairly treated – whether the child is correct or not – and that’s a problem you need […]

I believe my students are confident they will always get a fair hearing, and they will not be subject to abuse of powers. I think that’s very important – and my point is, it can be done without abolition. I agree with that but how do you define fairness and whose definition should you use: […]

Some teachers will give a child a fair hearing, and the benefit of any doubt, but not all will. If the police had the power to just arrest you and send you straight to gaol, without having to worry about trivialities like evidence or a trial, would you be confident they wouldn’t abuse that power? […]

I can guarantee that if a kid passes gas very loudly in a class full of 5th graders it will disrupt the class. A paddle happy bastard would seize the opportunity to swing that paddle. Wouldn’t you be afraid? Yes, I would. But I’d focus on addressing that problem by making sure ‘paddle happy bastards’ […]