Re: Who will teach the kids?

We don't all come from the position of corporal punishment in schools, by the time I went to school girls were exempt from being hit, only the boys were slippered and caned, by the time I was 14 it was banned for the boys too. So last few years were free of violent punishments.

We saw a change in behaviour for the better at first, but most of the parents in our school were involved in the school and we knew if it got back to our parents we had been bad we were in for trouble at home.

Never went home and said we had been punished as parents would just punish us again or say we deserved it.

Parents were parents not friends, these days people seem scared to be seen as a parent and try to be a friend to their children. Too busy having their own life to bother with their offspring, parents years ago gave up their lives for their children is how I remember it.

Mine didn't which was why by 5 I was living with my grandparents who put their lives on hold until I left home. Perhaps inadequate parenting should be less rewarded and they should like my parents lose their children until/if they can put them first.

Re: Who will teach the kids?

Absolutely agree with you Robert - we need good 'role models' ....
At the moment could count on one hand, yet inundated with offensive, in yer face celebs !!
That youngsters want to emulate !

Re: Who will teach the kids?

We had several amazing teachers who never used physical violence (or threats of visits to the head). Their major "skill" was their love and enthusiasm for the subject they taught and their ability to transmit that enthusiasm to us. One of my english teachers, Tom Barnes, taught us to speak Middle English through the medium of Chaucer and to this day I can still quote great chunks of Canterbury Tales in a middle english accent. Another English teacher, as part of a poetry course, regaled us with tales of his experiences as a conscientious objector who became an ambulance driver for the Canadian army in World War 1, including how he was imprisoned for a time as a POW with the American poet e.e.cummings. A chemistry teacher enthused us, not only with his explosive experiments which often went wrong, but also with his experiences as a Christian Missionary in pre-communist China. Compared with some of today's teachers, these people were well rounded individuals who had had a real life prior to teaching. The current career path of school- college-teaching tends not to produce the kind of people who will enthuse young people with a desire to learn.
A second characteristic they all had was a wonderful self confidence combined with the ability to be verbally cutting when necessary. These teachers could whittle a disruptive child into a fragile matchstick with just a few well chosen words. No-one in my school was physically afraid of these teachers, but we were mortally afraid of being the target of their acid wit and caustic derision.

I've worked with young people in several of these. Some are totally counterproductive and produce kids which are even worse when they come out. Others - usually with the best teachers (the kind I am talking about above) - worked reasonably well, but, like ASBOs, for some youngsters, being sent to a "special" school was a badge of honour and an affirmation of their "bad boy" status.

Although I am critical of some of today's teachers, they tend to be scapegoated for the shortcomings of the family. It's a bit like expecting a First Aider to cure cancer - the cause is older and more deep rooted than their skills allow them to address.

Re: Who will teach the kids?

well a lot of hot air and steam blown away there - and also done that and been there but still no solutions - have we run out of steam?

Re: Who will teach the kids?

I wonder if some of the lack of discipline we see is also down to diet, I see youngsters walking to school eating chocolate and crisps for their breakfast, with that much sugar inside them and no real nutrition they must be bouncing off the walls.

And also lack of exercise, they mooch along or are driven to gates. When I was at school a decent breakfast and a two and a half mile brisk walk to school set us up for the day.

Breaks we let off steam running around playing on the schools playing fields, don't see that anymore either as many schools don't even have playing fields.

PE which In hated again gave us exercise even though I resented it I can now see it was beneficial.

Re: Who will teach the kids?

I think diet plays a part too - its an established fact....
Prisoners given a better diet, behaved far better.....

Re: Who will teach the kids?

I didn't know that but it makes sense to me, my mood is very different depending what I eat.

Re: Who will teach the kids?

Yea its true - they tried it out last year ....
It makes sense, but takes ages to get things done as usual, food manufacturers have a lot to answer for, I know there has been some advance, but not enough. They say on packaging now, free from artificial colouring etc - looks the same, tastes the same, so why did we have to have 'all' those E numbers etc - to start with !

Re: Who will teach the kids?

That, I think, is crucial. I remember at my school (and others) that if you misbehaved repeatedly and disrupted classes, you were sent to another class until your behaviour improved. This worked on two fronts: it separated you from your friends and kind of moved you into a perceived 'inferior' group (not what the intention of bad behaviour is all about) and also, the class we had was run by a teacher that you would mess with at your peril! She was really nice as long as you behaved but woe betide you if you didn't.

Children need boundaries.

Re: Who will teach the kids?

No, I don't think that plays a part at all. Sweets were part of our childhood and think of the puddings we'd eat even at school at midday and children weren't bouncing off the walls after lunch.

This could well be a big part of it imo. Children are ferried to and from school like some precious cargo with attendant security guard to keep it(them) safe from harm in transit! School PE was rigorous (as you have said) and left you feeling worn out and one of the punishments at our school was running circuits of the track.

Children, like most young animals, have boundless energy which needs to be run off or they become disruptive - yet today's parents (and to an extent, society) seems to want to keep children static as much as possible; strange.