Should we whack the little buggers?

I read these comments with interest today on a teaching blog:

"A survey found that a significant majority of parents believe pupil behaviour had declined since then and over half were in favour of the return of corporal discipline in schools.

"It is worth noting, that the argument against corporal discipline, was largely along the lines that; if you treat children violently (and opponents classified corporal discipline as violence), it will produce a violent society.

"Interestingly, though corporal discipline has not really been used in schools since 1987, violence and discipline problems appear to have become much worse since then and a greater problem now than ever."

This was from a UK blog. I wonder whether the supposed increase in bullying can also be traced back to the removal of the cane? Back in the old days, bullies always knew that there was a bigger bully than them - either the headmaster, or a teacher who might be known as a particularly ferocious caner. If you were found to be bullying some little kid, the teachers would simply bully you a few times with the cane until you got the point that they'd stop whacking you when you stopped beating up other kids.

These days, the "big bully" has disappeared. There are no rough, tough teachers on the playground that will pull young dickheads into line with a few strokes across the backside.

Why else might bullying be rife? Is it a perception thing, or is there really a lot more of it going around than when we were kids? If there is a lot more of it, then why has it grown so much?

My two cents worth is that the potential for bullying is present in most young males. I don't know about young females. Unless you keep a very firm lid on it by threat of physical coercion, it will break out all over the place. It's not something you can eliminate - all you can do is control it, and controlling it requires a firm hand.

Unfortunately, the namby pambys seem to hate that idea, and believe that "counselling" will do the trick. I remember being a young boy. Being spoken to never did me much good. I used to think of it as soft and weak and not worth listening to.

But I did listen intently in maths because the teacher that took it was also the football coach and he was prone to throwing dusters at your head - and he did not aim to miss, and he did not pull his throws. When there is a good change of you ending up with a duster sized bruise on your forehead, you become very quiet and obedient. We didn't mind the dusters - it was better than him having to cane you.