I would like to talk to about the current debate on whether schools should go back to the old system of corporal punishment or not. Unfortunately, I have not had very long to write this essay (two days), but it is all based on direct knowledge. I was apparently harassing other pupils. This is actually wrong as first of all, it was only one pupil, and secondly, it wasn't harassing but having fun. The pupil (who will remain anonymous) didn't really mind it, but he never had a say in the matter, neither did I and the other harassers, although we were the apparent ones who were causing the problem.
Corporal Punishment, as described by the Collins Dictionary and Thesaurus (in one volume - 1990) is the punishment of a physical nature such as caning. This was in the schools in the UK quite a long time ago, and some people have been wondering whether it was a good thing, and to re-introduce it, or was it a bad thing.
At the moment in schools, you would usually get told off, or if it is more serious, you may be told to so something such as a five hundred word essay (or if it was not as bad (like mine), it may be just a letter or apology to teachers, prefects and other people) on a subject related to the illegal deed you have done. In a school which has corporal punishment, you may be caned on the hand or on the anus. At present, in schools this would be illegal, but then, it was quite common. In schools, what tends to happen is that you may be caught by a number of people, and new technologies enable the people to be able to record your name more accurately and securely.
Some of the people who may catch you include: prefects, teachers, other people telling teachers, sixth formers and more. If you are caught, you may be asked to have some sort of x word essay (which is usually in excess of two hundred, often about five hundred - can be more if you have been extremely naughty), on a subject which is relevant to what you have done which is wrong. This would often be done if it is directly causing some damage to the victim, (whether directly or indirectly). Normally, the person who caught you would talk to the person/people who were causing the damage - by usually giving them a warning (which I wasn't given) - and if they continue doing the deed, then they would have some disciplinary action. This would be handed into the school office, form tutors, key stage managers and sometimes it may be put into your pupil's file.
The person who caught you would also talk to the person whom the damage was being caused to, and only if they found that the people who were hurting him/her (whether verbally or physically), would the punishment be issued.
The person/people who were causing the problem may also be causing damage to many people (for example, racism). In this case, the person who was causing the problem would often be given a worse sentence, which may consist of more lines, for example, or if it was very bad, they would be suspended. In a corporal school, this person would be either suspended or even expelled! They would also be given some sort of physical punishment (eg. caning) by the teacher or person who caught them. I have not had enough time to learn about how the school system worked in corporal punishment schools, so I can not comment on whether they had such things as prefects. Many people think that the corporal punishment schools made pupils better behaved and enabled then to be better at schoolwork because if they got a low mark (even in some cases nine out of ten), they would be punished until they got full marks.
I personally do not think that corporal punishment should be re-introduced into schools for the sole reason that I would not like to be caned or similar. I have not had enough time to interview other people to think what they think so my views would be completely biased. Parents may think that it should be re-introduced into schools because they think that children now do not spend enough time on their homework or any assignments that they have been set, but if they had the choice for them to re-live their life with the choice of whether or whether not corporal punishment, I think that most if not all of them would go for the non-corporal punishment option.
Even if the majority of people thought that corporal punishment should be reintroduced in schools, I very much doubt that it will actually happen. Firstly, I don't think it would be worth the change, and I'm sure the government would agree with me, and secondly that even nowadays it is actually illegal for parents to hit their children, the teachers/guardians/prefects etc. will not be able to hit children who are not even in the same family. I believe that there should be some sort of punishment if the person has been naughty in any way, but I don't believe that the person who was naughty should be physically abused.
The government will not go through the process of changing every school in the UK to allow them to hit the children in the school. It would not be worth the hassle and will cost millions of pounds for this to take off, and the government does not have that amount of money to waste; it could go towards things which would benefit more from all of the money given. That's it!
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That is literally what I put in my essay, and handed it in!! You may show it to other people, but please attribute it to me (Marc Warne).
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