Corporal punishment - should it be considered?

[Bambiraptor]

After spending some time teaching in a comprehensive in a deprived area of this country, I have been asking myself what will help the children who are so difficult in school. With the best of a teacher's intentions some children are just not interested in learning, and teaching becomes a battle. It is more about classroom management than anything else.
There are no consequences for poor behaviour and alot of the time no parental back up at all.
I totally disagree with corporal punishment. Full stop. My dad was is a retired headmaster of a private school in Kent and he is an advocate of corporal punishment as it worked in the school.
By brain is addled.
WHat do you think? DO you think teachers and schools should be given more power to deal with problem students?

I worked in a special school which catered for many kinds of SEN, including EBD. But they were certainly not all "lumped together in one place". In fact, there was far more recognition of, and support for, all kinds of SEN than you would find in mainstream. Despite them all being under one roof.

Completely agree about inclusion at all costs being damaging. It has a detremental affect on all the pupils. I think specialised units are the answer where the problem kids have a chance to be seen as an individual and given work which they can actually do, not expect them to sit in a classroom for an hour where they haven't got a clue what is being taught and are bored and restless.

I agree frances; my point was that there are many reasons for behavioural problems.

What I find particularly annoying about badly behaved kids, is they always spend hours with learning mentors, and get sent on special workshops.

The well behaved kids don't get any of this.

Mb/other teachers, do you/your collegues not get interevntion trainingor anything like that ?When I did my TEAM TEACH training I was with a few m/s teachers who said after their course they would end up being the ones breaking up fights as they would be the only ones allowed to intervene (TBH I wouldn't like to be them though)

SN school-We are allowed to move a child if 'it causes danger to themselves/others or it would change the status quo' (something like that anyway)

We have to log any use of physical intervention and check for marks (also contact the parents to inform them -each kid has a policy saying intervention may be used if X happens)

So far this week I have used it 4 times

Upwind it is sad that you feel like that, although I do teachsome evry difficult children I also believe that I provide an excellent education for my pupils and living in an area shoud not deprive you of a good education, I wold happily allow my daughter to attend the school I teach in as I know she would get an excellent education.

Today wan anincident free day BTW!!

Stigaloid is right in most of the cases I can think of the kids i struggle with are those where there is no parental support.

nikkie, we have no training in our school at all.

I have been on a behaviour managment course, and the guy taking it touched on proper handling techniques, but it wasn't covered.

It is an accident waiting to happen sometime!

I ahve to restrain children on a much more regular basis then I like asd I know each time I do my career is on the line as I teach in a school where kids like to shout assault and parents are looking for a chance to sue!

We are advised to touchstudents as little as possible.

If I cannot get student to leave a room and I think it has happened to me twice I call for more senior staff who work in pairs at naggging them to movr. I ahve once had to move my class because one pupil would not move!

so far, I have managed to break up all fights by shouting very loudly.

I am soon to go on training on restraiing pupils provided by my union.

I didn't know if it was common practice or not .Didn't sound v good though in a big school 2-3 teachers trained and would be called on all the time to stop fights.

It is a bloody disgrace that teachers are having to be trained to restrain students. I have lost count of the times my exciting and enagaging lesson (IMO) has had to be completely abandoned due to agressive and disruptive behaviour. I spend time outside the classroom trying to calm down the irate pupil. The other pupils lose their lesson. It is crap.

"a bloody disgrace that teachers are having to be trained to restrain students"

What would you prefer? Teachers not trained to restrain students? Pupils brutalised and terrified to the point where nobody needs to restrain them, because they flinch if an adult makes a sudden movement? If you're a teacher, and a parent, stop bloody whinging and suggest a practical solution.

Myopia and buck-passing from parents, teachers and government is the problem IMO. It's so much easier for everyone to blame everyone else, and if all else fails we can always just blame the children

I have not read the entire thread but agree with the OP that corporal punishment should be bought back into schools.

Every child is in school to learn about life skills, whether the parent is interested or not. They are there because it's good for them to learn discipline ie sitting down for forty minutes whilst a lecture is taking place, being polite to someone, treating their fellow pupils with respect etc etc. And above all to learn about things that will not be taught without school.

If discipline was taught at ground level, again, whilst they are spending 6 hours per day at school, then just maybe they will take it outside of school.

There have always been shit parents, but schools were not always shit.

I meant, maybe they will take the discipline learnt at school outside btw.

I think it is sad that I ahve to be taught how to restrain students but it is a skill I need and for my own safety and that of my students I am glad to have that training. Therefore disgraced is not a word I would use just being realistically prepared.

But what lesson would I be teaching my pupils by hitting them when they do not do as I ask.

I was hit at home and in school and did nothing to improve my quite diabolical behaviour, I just became more angry with the world and my behaviour got worse.

Many of the kids I teach do receive corporal punishment at home it is not beneftting them in school so why should the school dishing out corporal punishment improve discipline in society.

You would be teaching them that they HAVE to be quiet & behave at certain times. When you are TEACHING THEM.

What is wrong with that??

I would be teaching them to behave when the threat of violence exists. So when they go into the workplace does that threat have to remain.

Most of my pupils do listen due to my adherance to the school discipline policy that does not include corporal punishment and my rewards and praise for those that do well because they listen.

There is nothing wrong with teaching kids to listen, I just disagree with how you want to do it.

I can't believe parents want me to hit their kids! I can only assume that you think your child would never need corporal punishment.

But surely you are there for the good of them, because you have something to share that may or may not be of interest, but that the child should know for future reference.

For that alone, you should be afforded respect.

I know that lots of parents are crap, but for gods sake, every person has to learn that there are times to be respectful.

It is not working by mentoring/counselling, so lets go back to base. Wallop.

I know my views are very very unpopular, but it DID work for a few hundred years, so why do we think that we can change it, when it's so obvious that we live in a society where young people think that they can treat people like shit, shout assault on teachers, yet behave like animals.

School is the only place for most children which is guaranteed. So start there. The rest will follow. IMHO>