A Better Future for Our Children Free Essay Example

The stigma around corporal punishment is simply untrue and misunderstood. Do you really want your child growing up not knowing the true meaning of discipline or what is right and what is wrong? The most important issue that corporal punishment has is the ability to solve would be extremely bad behaviour and children who take their deserved rights to the next level do so just to benefit them. The main aim with the reintroduction of this punishment is to provide our children with a better future and it most definitely will do that.

The main vital arguments for reintroducing corporal punishment is that it is believed that it will decrease bad behaviour in the classroom. In a survey carried out by the telegraph, it shows that 20.3% of teachers feel that it should be reintroduced as bad behaviour has increased and it can be argued that the core of this problem is due to the abolishment of corporal punishment. If a child is misbehaving and interrupting the entire classes learning, would the most effective punishment really be a quick telling off, for them to just go back to their smug friends and plan their next interruption? No.

Shephard states that if a teacher was to physically punish the pupil it would most definitely influence their behaviour in a positive way as they know the severe consequences that will await them. Students are simply unable to perform at the best of their ability if there are children that are a distraction to their learning environment.

Julian Perfect, a London teacher, told a school conference that “The forms of discipline currently available to teachers for dealing with inappropriate behaviour remain totally inadequate” This highlights the fact that there have been other methods tested but none seem to be as effective as corporal punishment once was many years ago. The low rates of bad behaviour when corporal punishment was legal is one of the main reasons why it should be reintroduced into our modern-day schooling systems.

It is evident that rights culture needs to be restrained which reintroducing corporal punishment will ensure. Nowadays, any student will blatantly recite their rights whenever they feel it necessary in order to claim power over their teacher. Thus making the teachers within the school feel powerless to a child. If children were physically disciplined it would allow teachers to do their job at the best of their ability as they will not have the worry that the class will be disrupted by children who want the attention of their fellow classmates. One advantage of this punishment being brought back would be Backchat. As if the child isn’t content with the disruption already caused but often has to cause even more of a commotion by not accepting their wrongdoings. This would hopefully come to a halt. Teachers would finally be in charge of their classes again, knowing that when they start teaching it will continue with no interruptions until the final bell.

For corporal punishment to be reintroduced, it is obvious that schools have to take into consideration the parents views and opinions. In the majority of schools in which corporal punishment is permitted more than half of the parents whose children attended school want corporal punishment back in the classroom as they feel that it will benefit their children’s learning. However, by parents agreeing with this punishment they may not realise it is their children that will suffer it as they think it is the other children in the class not their own. As a parent you want your child to receive the best quality of learning possible in order to ensure a successful future and without receiving the correct form of discipline this may not be possible for a small selection of problematic children. Around one-fourth of the 1000 parents who were asked in a survey felt that one of the largest problems in classrooms were badly behaved children. Parents main concerns are the learning of their own children, therefore why should they have the opportunity of learning taken away from them due to children who decide to not pay attention in class. Bringing back corporal punishment would be the only way to allow children to perform at their best and achieved their aims in general life.

Teachers, being the people carrying out the punishing are entitled to have their opinions heard in order to make corporal punishment as effective as possible. Graeme Paten, Education editor stated that ‘More than 20 years after corporal punishment was banned in state schools, many teachers said it was only acceptable to hit children “in extreme cases”’. This proves that corporal punishment will not be taken lightly and used whenever the teacher feels like it, but will be used only inappropriate situations. One of the main fears that people have about this punishment being reintroduced is the teacher abusing their powers and taking their rage out on their children at any given opportunity but in fact, there are little to no cases in which this has occurred so it should not be a constant worry on both parents and society’s minds. Rosen (1997) describes this form of discipline as ‘either a branch of knowledge training that develops self-control, character, efficiency and strict control to enforce obedience’ Illustrating that by using corporal punishment it will benefit the child as they will be obtaining different skills that they will have to endure in order to have a bright successful future which every parent wants their child to have.

Although there seem to be many arguments to reintroduce corporal punishment in schools, there are arguments against it. This perhaps highlights the negative impacts that corporal punishment had. The days where corporal punishment was legal the equipment used to endure pain was varied, there were implements such as a cane, leather strap, wooden yardstick or a wooden paddle. The wooden paddle being the strongest argument for not bringing back this punishment. It was originally invented to bring pain amongst black slaves around the 1860s. It was used to ensure that they still suffered but did not cause any permanent tissue damage which would decrease their market share. This further adds to the debate as it highlights the question of should we are allowing teachers, who are close to strangers bring pain to our children? Should we allow them to treat our children with the same respect that slaves were given years ago? Obviously not, but in order to allow this punishment back into our lives, we have to place our trust in the teacher who will be physically carrying out the punishments. But who is to say that they will not abuse this newfound power? This is a common question amongst many and rightly so, mostly due to the past of corporal punishment but in order to make this an effective deterrence for the students in order for them to focus on their education, a softer piece of equipment could be used which would not cause a large amount of physical pain as the aim of this punishment is not to brutally hit our societies children.

By reintroducing corporal punishment in schools the evidence shown proves that it will both benefit the students and the learning environment in which the students are involved in. It is evident that good behaviour will increase within and out with school hours; also that teachers will no longer feel as though they are being controlled and manipulated by the children they are teaching. Parents also feel that it would improve their children’s learning experience as there would be a large decrease in distractions in the classrooms as a vast majority of the class will be disciplined in the correct manner. A form of corporal punishment should be reintroduced in schools as it will benefit greatly.

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