Today's classroom sanctions?

[Sussexlad]

When I was in school, way back, even in primary we would be given lines for chattering. In secondary it was the strap on the hand, some hurt, some didn't. Detention came next and I guess expulsion in the very worst of cases though I don't recall that ever happening. Such punishment was usually accepted as deserved and justified.

What course of action do today's teachers have for disruption and misbehaviour? Just interested.

[redsturgeon]

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10 ... 21.1889052

Psychological torture seems to be the preferred method for insuring compliance these days.

John

[UncleEbenezer]

When I was in school, way back, even in primary we would be given lines for chattering. In secondary it was the strap on the hand, some hurt, some didn't. Detention came next and I guess expulsion in the very worst of cases though I don't recall that ever happening. Such punishment was usually accepted as deserved and justified.

What course of action do today's teachers have for disruption and misbehaviour? Just interested.

You're showing your age there. Those things had gone in my time, and I'm 60.

Expulsions certainly happen. Perhaps more than of old, at least in those schools that focus heavily on ofsted ratings and don't want the young 'ooligans fouling them up. Or where today's taboos are violated.

[servodude]

When I was in school, way back, even in primary we would be given lines for chattering. In secondary it was the strap on the hand, some hurt, some didn't. Detention came next and I guess expulsion in the very worst of cases though I don't recall that ever happening. Such punishment was usually accepted as deserved and justified.

What course of action do today's teachers have for disruption and misbehaviour? Just interested.

You're showing your age there. Those things had gone in my time, and I'm 60.

Expulsions certainly happen. Perhaps more than of old, at least in those schools that focus heavily on ofsted ratings and don't want the young 'ooligans fouling them up. Or where today's taboos are violated.

?
I'm well younger than that
- was belted in primary one (it was stopped shortly after)
- and know most of my Shakespeare passages from lines in secondary

-sd

[bungeejumper]

LOL, I can't think of any reply that wouldn't have been better suited for the Bitter Lemons board. Apologies, then, for this one.

Short answer is that I have no idea about the current situation, because I quit the teaching profession more than 40 years ago. I wasn't suited to teaching (I didn't have the patience), so I might not be qualified to comment. But it might be helpful to compare notes, because we do tend to over-romanticise what schools were like in the good old old days.

In the really good old days (1960s, for me), we didn't have all this namby-pamby cotton-wool psychological 'understanding', and we didn't have ADHD and all that. Bad kids went to borstal, and then they went to prison, where they learned how to be seriously bad. The deputy head at my well-regarded grammar school was such an old sadist that he spent his day thinking up ways to wrong-foot his students so that he could whack them about the head - and he was eventually fired for doing the same thing to another teacher, who he hospitalised.

In my own teaching era (late seventies, boys' secondary), we had detentions, but our headmaster much preferred the cane, until he was censured by the staff for giving it out 120 times in two terms. Some of us gave out lines, but as punishments they were about as constructive as those prison treadmills that broke your spirit by being so pointless. And breaking people's spirits was just not very conducive to teaching them stuff.

We had violence, instead of drug problems and smartphone bullying like today. The only kid we ever expelled had been using a razor on his classmates, and it took a hell of a long time to find another school that would take him. We had epilepsy in our school, much of it apparently caused by lead in petrol. We were just beginning to take dyslexia and ADHD seriously. We didn't have any medical or psychological resources at school, or any budget for it. In the staffroom, we all knew which kids' mothers were on the game, and whose fathers were in prison, and we tried to give them a bit more leeway than the others. With class sizes of 35 or 40, that was the best we could manage.

Things are different today, and I'm just really glad that they are.

BJ

[Sussexlad]

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13603116.2021.1889052

Psychological torture seems to be the preferred method for insuring compliance these days.

John

That certainly sounds more like torture, rather than the short, sharp treatment we enjoyed ! My only observation really, is that when child knowingly pushes the boundaries, innately they expect to be punished in some way. If that isn't forthcoming the only loser is the adult, who looks weak in their eyes but that's a debate for another place.

[bungeejumper]

My only observation really, is that when child knowingly pushes the boundaries, innately they expect to be punished in some way. If that isn't forthcoming the only loser is the adult, who looks weak in their eyes but that's a debate for another place.

LOL, I'm not the only teacher to have had a really devious, disruptive kid look them straight in the eye and say: "Sir, I can't ever respect you because you don't hit me, like Mr Adams does."

That particular kid had a wealthy father who hit him all the time, and that was the only disciplinary culture that he was able to respond to. Quite a problem for a teacher, even 45 years ago!

BJ

[stevensfo]

When I was in school, way back, even in primary we would be given lines for chattering. In secondary it was the strap on the hand, some hurt, some didn't. Detention came next and I guess expulsion in the very worst of cases though I don't recall that ever happening. Such punishment was usually accepted as deserved and justified.

What course of action do today's teachers have for disruption and misbehaviour? Just interested.

You're showing your age there. Those things had gone in my time, and I'm 60.

Expulsions certainly happen. Perhaps more than of old, at least in those schools that focus heavily on ofsted ratings and don't want the young 'ooligans fouling them up. Or where today's taboos are violated.

Well I'm the same age and these things definitely existed in schools back then. I was fortunate in going to a peaceful Primary school with a very kind headmaster and never observed any child being hit, though my sisters assure me that there were one or two 'nasty' women around. I reckon that we all went to our big Comp as well-balanced kids and extremely well educated. The comprehensive school was pretty standard and the cane was used, but I heard that the youngish headmaster wanted it used less and less. The circles I moved in meant that I never even saw it, never came close to it and it was obvious that it was always the same kids. We called them 'Hard nuts' The worst punishment I ever got was a succession of essays (they didn't use lines) given by our Humanities teacher for talking/giggling in class. He was actually a very good teacher and kind but strict - the best sort! Having to write essays and stories as punishment turned me into a prolific author and encouraged my writing no end. Provided he didn't set an obscure title, I quite enjoyed writing them!
I didn't think much about it for a long time, but conversations with others, various biographies and reports of abuse in the press made me realise that the majority of physical punishments were sado-sexual in nature though I'm sure that teachers would never have admitted it in those days.

That study in the link confirms what I've heard from nephews and cousins about modern schools. Not easy getting the balance right. I've heard silly cases of children being 'isolated' due to having short haircuts or not wearing the correct uniform. Totally absurd! What is it with British teachers? Detentions were used a lot in my nephew's school, but again, an after-school detention only works for kids who can walk home.

Not sure what the answer is, though they seem to have the right attitude in France. Teachers there are 'teachers' and not psychologists, fight-referees, fashion experts or social workers. Any behavioural problems go straight back to the parents and local authority.

Steve