Louise von Randow: Thinking ICT

Rising violence in schools ‘due to lax discipline’

July 31st, 2007

This isn’t ICT related but sometimes things written in The Herald astound me. This item was also featured on Radio NZ this morning in the 7 o’clock news.

“The removal of corporal punishment in schools has been highlighted as a root cause of the rise in violence against teachers.

The study also found more than 50 per cent of teachers and more than 25 per cent of school support staff reported “aggressive verbal confrontations” with pupils.”

The removal of corporal punishment is the root cause of the rise in violence against teachers. What?! I am astounded that anyone might think that.

We’ve all had our share of “toey” kids but this article seems to buy into the common notion that schools should be dealing with the problem by changing the way they do things (or in this case, going back to the “good ol’ days”). Just like schools should teach students how to blow their nose and what is a balanced healthy diet, etc. Where is the conversation about parents teaching kids how to behave appropriately, how to eat correctly, get enough sleep, blow their own nose?

More importantly though, how can you teach a child that it is not okay to hit someone when you hit them yourself? One rule for Peter and another for Paul? In my experience, the children that are likely to abuse you (physically or verbally) come from homes where this sort of behaviour is “acceptable” or “normal”. There are lots of positive behaviour management techniques that teachers can employ and these are even more effective when the home comes on board.

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