In today's telegraph:
"Among all the wearisome educational platitudes we have had to endure in the last generation, the claim that corporal punishment has been "done away with" in schools is the most cynical and unconscionable.
In reality there is vastly more physical punishment in schools now than ever before - but it is administered by school bullies and not any lawful authority.
There are now statistics on head fractures, knife wounds and other serious injuries in schools. Pupils commit suicide to avoid going to school and all normal, well-behaved children are potential victims of violence, whether they have done anything to deserve it or not.
Is it any wonder that so many children play truant from schools where they learn nothing and are in fear, if not in actual danger? There is nothing "civilised" about this situation and yet teachers look the other way, pretend corporal punishment doesn't exist and suggest yet more brightly coloured handkerchiefs to wave at miscreants."
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I do wonder about the long term effects of this social experiment, having suffered at the hands of school bullies myself. From what friends who teach tell me, I dread to think how far bullying goes these days