Excellent ideas that i mostly agree with... but is this the schools job? I thought that's what the parents are supposed to do. Be parents. When I was raised I was punished for doing wrong, and praised for doing good... Especially in school.

I was shocked and horrified to read the stories that some of you shared. I had no idea that corporal punishment still continues today. I expected, being the year 2008, that teachers were no longer allowed to strike a child. This is definitely a topic I will write an article about. I want to thank each of you for sharing in this discussion.

I would like to point out, though, that just because a parent chooses not to spank does not mean that the child receives no discipline. There are, quite honestly, healthier ways to discipline a child. Assumptions should not be made that children which are not physically punished receive no discipline at all.

Yes I can post hundreds of studies that show that spanking / beating a child makes them more anti-social and disruptive in the long run.

Saying someone does not discipline their child if they do not spank them makes no sense. It's not logical. It's like someone doesn't feed their child if they don't feed them pizza every day. There is a HUGE difference between unhealthy discipline and healthy discipline.

Do some people not discipline their kids? Certainly. Just like some parents beat their kids. But neither is healthy. You should properly discipline your kids - just like you should properly feed your kids.

I know a ton of teens who are brilliant, well behaved and were never hit. I also know of a ton of teens who were hellions in the 50s and 60s. I think people who have an idyllic view of "older generations" are looking with rosy colored glasses ...

Hmm I think i was taken a bit out of context, I completely understand there are plenty of other ways to discipline a child. The point i was trying to make, is that I disagree with the idea of having schools do the work of discipline. I feel that should be the parents job. And especially when it comes to being rewarded for good grades. Schools shouldn't be rewarding kids for doing what they are supposed too. Parents should.

Skeeter, I agree with you. I think it is also the parent's job to discipline their children. I also think rewards should come from the parents. Great point! :0)

Skeeter, I agree with you. I think it is also the parent's job to discipline their children. I also think rewards should come from the parents. Great point! :0)

my mother told my school administrators if they ever used the paddle on me she would come down there and use the paddle from head to toe on them and make sure she nails thousands of nails with the sharp points out in it first. Under no circumstance would she allow her kids to be paddled by a school.

They never did. Once a principal took out a paddle when I had been sent to his office. I told him he better think twice before he did. He laughed and still came after me anyways. Luckily the secretary popped her head in when she found out it was me in the office and said "do you know who his mother is? I woulnd't do that if I were you and wanted to keep my job!"

You see, my mom was the babysitter for most of the districts administrators and teachers throughout the years. If they were employees of the school district and got referred to my mom, she interviewed them and considered them for the job. So she had babysat the superintendants kids and so forth. She even babysat a few judges and lawyers kids for good measure. The threat was real.

The point I am making about this tirade? My mother considered discipline her job, not the administrators. It was her plce and right as my mother to smack my butt when I got into it. However, she never did spank me. All it took was a look from her knowing I was disappointing her and thats all it took. It might have helped that she took a wooden spoon out of the drawer when I was younger and smacked it on the counter, and thus it shattered. She told me if I didn't want it to be my [censored], I'd learn to respect her, her rules, and to behaive. All it took was that look or a couple steps towards that drawer to scare me straight (not literally obviously). Was it fear on my part that made me listen. I do not think so. it was the fact I learned there wrere boundaries that I could not cross and if I did I would have to face the consequences of violating that trust she placed in me.

I'm glad that you were able to avoid any kind of physical discipline. And i'm glad that you felt it worked. Personally though if I would have ever even considered telling the principal of my school "I told him he better think twice before he did" I would have gotten tanned for disrespect.

oh, mom didn't like that one either. I was punished something fierce for that

I think I had to spend my recesses with him for the next month or so doing whatever he wished which involed a lot of line writing, cleaning and sitting there being bored