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| CRIME AND PUNISHMENT: The phrase "getting caned" doesn't mean quite the same to children as it once did in the age of Jimmy Edwards films |
THE news is rife with dramatic headlines of Britain's "yoof" gone wild. There are tales of Asbo teens on the rampage, chaos in the classrooms and gangs of hoodies hiding under the bed.
Many leading charities even believe that thousands of parents in the UK are being bullied by their children.
This is something that many parents are afraid to discuss because of the fear of humiliation. So is it perhaps time to get tough on these delinquents and give them a stiff dose of old-fashioned discipline?
Betty Hockey, a wartime entertainer and local historian remembers when strict discipline in the home and school made the younger generation afraid to misbehave.
"In my day, we wouldn't dare be naughty, as you'd get a cuff around the ear from your father to start with. At school if you swore you'd get a good whacking."
Could this then be the solution, bringing back cane-swishing headmasters in schools around the country? Former local teacher Mick Callahan certainly doesn't agree with this method of control.
"If you're a good teacher you don't need to raise your voice. I remember teaching one of my first classes and they said I was firm but fair'. I always liked that as a compliment."
Mick is now the director of Funnybone comedy club in Bournemouth, but his years of teaching taught him that violence can often breed violence.
"With corporal punishment you've got to remember that they do get bigger and they'll find you afterwards!"
While "getting caned" at school is likely to have a very different connotation for most schoolchildren these days, Mick remembers the threat of corporal punishment.
"When I first started teaching, the cane was still there but only used as a possible threat and never implemented," says Mick.
Brian Hooper, executive head teacher of Bournemouth Alternative Needs Federation also has strong feelings about the effectiveness of such a punishment.
"I can't see any reasonable argument for
bringing back corporal punishment. It wouldn't change anything for us and in fact it would create more problems."
"The type of pupil that would end up receiving corporal punishment nowadays is not the sort who would respond to that type of punishment anyway. It's a type of violence and that kind of pupil would have very complex issues already and a good caning wouldn't make any difference," says Brian.
Mick Callahan feels that we have little to fear from the younger generation and that it could be an irrational worry created by media hype.
"I've taught in local and inner city schools and I never had any issues with anyone. The majority of today's youth are good kids."
7:00pm Tuesday 13th May 2008
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