Jane asked:

What is the justification for the use of discipline/ punishment in schools?

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Discipline is necessary in any organisation. The problem is, how to enforce that discipline. The
problem becomes even more acute when dealing with children; but there is no avoiding the fact that
discipline is a vital part of a young person's education. A young person requires guidance until s/he
reaches an age where they can make judgements and weigh-up situations for themselves. Education
is not just about academic subjects, it also includes, what was called by my generation, learning how
to become a good citizen. Part of this education was learning good manners, learning to respect
others, and a general idea of what was considered good and what was considered bad or evil. A
major factor, which people often overlook, was self respect; it is difficult to respect others if we have
no respect for ourselves. Underpinning all this was the firm imposition of discipline.

Of course, discipline of children was always considered to be the main responsibility of parents, the
home was where good manners were expected to be taught, where parents were expected to set a
good example, however, schools did take it upon themselves not only to back-up parents but to take
a lead. A good hiding for a misbehaving pupil at school was acceptable to all, and was expected from
the most famous public school in the land down to the most basic Council School. It was not unusual
for a young person to be punished in school and on arriving home to discover that their parents knew
of this would be subject to either another good hiding, or being sent straight to bed without their
evening meal.

For those of us old enough to make the comparison there is, without doubt a massive paradigm shift
in received knowledge regarding morality and ethics. This shift from Victorian times, through
Edwardian Times, through the twenties and on into the sixties was hardly noticeable. the changes in
the structure of society the began to accelerate at such a pace that the culture shock had a
devastating effect on relationships between parents and their, particularly, teen-age offspring. Still
living in the past paradigm and reluctant to accept the changes taking place, the earlier generation
were left gasping like goldfish in a bowl that had been deprived of nearly all their life-giving water. The
gap between the previous and the developing generation opened rapidly, the relationship between
young people and adults changed as a different concept of discipline replaced the old concept. One
of the major changes was the different attitude towards discipline in schools, corporal punishment
was eventually banned, and a rather strange shift of emphasis from discipline of the young person to
protection of the young person took place. Physical contact between teacher and pupil took on a
sinister meaning: teachers began to feel confused and helpless, their world was turned upside down
almost overnight. I distinctly remember a friend of mine almost losing his job because he placed his
hand on the shoulder of a girl as she refused to step into line in the play-ground, blatantly refusing to
obey the teacher she was quite prepared to hold up the entire school. She told my friend to take his
hand off her shoulder because that was a form of assault and he would be reported. He appeared
before the Head and the girl's parents the following day, was completely humiliated and warned about
his future conduct. Bizarre events began to be reported in the media, like the one where the teachers
were besieged in a high school by angry pupils who had taken offence at the attempted imposition of
new instructions. Damage was done to staff cars, tyres let down, etc. before the police arrived to
disperse the pupils.

The relaxing of discipline in schools initially brought about a lowering of academic standards, a high
percentage of pupils leaving primary schools were poor at reading writing, Whether co-incidence or
not, there was a continuing rise in truancy, vandalism, attacks on the elderly by young people, drug
addiction in the young, thieving and general criminality in all areas. Along with this came a marked
increase in general bad behaviour, decline of good manners, and lack of consideration and respect
for others.

We must not overlook the fact that other changes had taken place in society which coincided with
school discipline problems, the main one being changes in family life. The increasing divorce rate, a
lack of interest in the sanctity of marriage, children having two homes with father and partner in one
and mother and partner in the other, and so on. In addition to all this came a rapid decline in church
going, and the almost total decline of Sunday Schools, both have had an effect on the discipline of
young people. Ironically, these changes, which to some are catastrophic events, throws the
responsibility for discipline back on the schools.

It is, of course, not the case that all young people fall into the categories indicated, I believe we have
all met or know some wonderful young people who are a credit to their school and to society.
Unfortunately, the daily exposure of the criminal behaviour of young people shows a continued
increase. Even as I write this I am informed by the media that 17,000 juveniles stole vehicles last
year. Add the thousands of young drug addicts, muggers and thieves over the same period, and we
get the feeling that we are not just on the verge of anarchy, but that it has already arrived. It seems
that not only do we need real discipline back in schools, but we also require a tightening of the lenient
laws governing this country. When the do-gooders that brought all this about realise that there is a
difference between assaults on children and regulated punishment for their own good, and for the
good of society, we shall happen see a change back to normality, but don't hold your breath, and
don't forget that the bias has swung so far towards the welfare of young people that parents can be
taken to court by their own offspring who have decided that discipline is not for them.

John Brandon