corporal punishment in schools uk

[197], The implement used in many state and private schools in England and Wales was often a rattan cane, struck either across the student's hands, legs, or the clothed buttocks. [25], A number of medical, pediatric or psychological societies have issued statements opposing all forms of corporal punishment in schools, citing such outcomes as poorer academic achievements, increases in antisocial behaviours, injuries to students, and an unwelcoming learning environment. Caning in Private Schools, 1960s [13], Britain itself outlawed the practice in 1987 for state schools[14][15][16] and more recently, in 1998, for all private schools.[17][18]. However, the court did hold that the boys had been deprived of their right to an education in keeping with their parents' views, contrary to Article 2 ("the State shall respect the right of parents to ensure such education in conformity with their own religious and philosophical convictions"). [171], Spain banned school corporal punishment in 1985 under article 6 of the Right to Education (Organization) Act 8/1985. It remains commonplace in a number of countries in Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East (see list of countries, below). In particular, evidence does not suggest that it enhances moral character development, increases students' respect for teachers or other authority figures, or offers greater security for teachers. Such punishment continues to be used,[227] and there are frequent media reports of excessive corporal punishment in schools. In 2006, Taiwan made corporal punishment in the school system illegal. They suggest that student self-governance can be an effective alternative for managing disruptive classroom behaviour, while stressing the importance of adequate training and support for teachers. [175], Corporal punishment in schools is officially illegal under the Ministry of Education Regulation on Student Punishment 2005. [189] Standard instructions for teachers provided by the Ministry of Science and Education state that a teacher who has used corporal punishment to a pupil (even once), shall be dismissed. [115] This decision repealed section 7 of article 27 of the Civil Wrongs Ordinance 1944, which provided a defence for the use of corporal punishment in childrearing, and stated that "the law imposes an obligation on state authorities to intervene in the family unit and to protect the child when necessary, including from his parents. [7] The AAP recommends a number of alternatives to corporal punishment including various nonviolent behaviour-management strategies, modifications to the school environment, and increased support for teachers. [198][199], Sometimes, a long ruler was used on the bare legs or hands instead of a cane. Webmortarboard and cane corporal punishment - corporal punishment in schools stock pictures, royalty-free photos & images Vintage illustration featuring a schoolboy being caned during a Greek lesson in "The Boy's Own Paper", published in London, circa 1896. Corporal punishment in British state schools, and also in private schools receiving any element of public funding, was banned by parliament in 1987. WebA key European Court of Human Rights judgment (1982), which hastened the demise of corporal punishment in British state schools. The ILEA had already put a stop to CP in primary schools with effect from 1973. [192], In state-run schools, and in private schools where at least part of the funding came from government, corporal punishment was outlawed by the British Parliament on 22 July 1986, following a 1982 ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that such punishment could no longer be administered without parental consent, and that a child's "right to education" could not be infringed by suspending children who, with parental approval, refused to submit to corporal punishment. [158][159][160], Corporal punishment is legal in Singapore schools, for male students only (it is illegal to inflict it on female students) and fully encouraged by the government in order to maintain discipline. Punishments include hitting with rebenques and slapping in the face. A similar justification exists in Chinese-speaking countries. Much of it seems rather subjective, and I can't entirely avoid the feeling when reading judgments of this kind that the judges are, to put the matter in demotic terms, "just playing with words" or "making it up as they go along". It should also be noted that the Article 2 claim stood up only because there were no alternative non-belting state schools within reach, and the parents in question could not afford private schools. development and not resorting to corporal punishment, and the role of national bodies in implementing the RTE Act, stating: "This advisory should be used by the State Governments/UT Administrations to ensure that appropriate State/school level guidelines on prevention of corporate punishment and appropriate redressal of any complaints, are framed, disseminated, acted upon and monitored. In Loco Parentis, Corporal Punishment and the Moral Economy of Discipline in English Schools, 1945-1986 [82][83] This was used on boys and girls alike. Webjudicial corporal punishment example 27 Feb. judicial corporal punishment example. The National Policy for Children 2013 states that in education, the state shall "ensure no child is subjected to any physical punishment or mental harassment" and "promote positive engagement to impart discipline so as to provide children with a good learning experience". In this 1894 court case, a clearly out-of-control teacher was successfully prosecuted and fined for assault. Two others, Kingston and Richmond, much more sensibly, came close to saying the opposite -- that caning of the hands was strongly discouraged as potentially injurious. In fact neither of them ever did receive the belt. [127], Caning is commonly used by teachers as a punishment in schools. [174], In Tanzania, corporal punishment in schools is widely practised and has led to lasting damage, including the death of a punished pupil. Examples of punishments (sometimes called sanctions) include: a telling-off. Its physical punishment, spanking , strapping, gym plimsoll, hand or cane on pupils bottoms, sometimes bare bottom. This article gives a first-person account of slippering practice at a traditional boys' grammar school (ages 11 to 18 inclusive) in the 1960s, at which the cane was administered in the office for serious offences, but the slipper, applied in the classroom by individual teachers, was much more prevalent. At secondary level, a rattan cane (not bamboo as often wrongly stated) perhaps 36 to 40 inches long would be a typical implement, especially for disciplining boys. [citation needed] In late 1987, about 60% of junior high school teachers felt it was necessary, with 7% believing it was necessary in all conditions, 59% believing it should be applied sometimes and 32% disapproving of it in all circumstances; while at elementary (primary) schools, 2% supported it unconditionally, 47% felt it was necessary and 49% disapproved. They include the American Medical Association,[26] the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,[11] the AAP,[7][27][28] the Society for Adolescent Medicine,[8][29] the American Psychological Association,[30] the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health,[31][32] the Royal College of Psychiatrists,[33] the Canadian Paediatric Society[34] and the Australian Psychological Society,[35] as well as the United States' National Association of Secondary School Principals. [3] There is a vast amount of literature on this, in both popular and serious culture. WebBeyond this, even in countries where corporal punishment is not part of the justice system, such as China, it is still largely used within family homes and many schools. A 'reasonable chastisement' [12] According to the United States Department of Education, more than 216,000 students were subjected to corporal punishment during the 200809 school year. An equivalent law for Scotland came into force in 2000. "Bend over!" In 1977, the Supreme Court ruling in Ingraham v. Wright held that the Eighth Amendment clause prohibiting "cruel and unusual punishments" did not apply to school students, and that teachers could punish children without parental permission. The punishment was administered by the headmaster, Mr Blackshaw, who allegedly took a run-up at each stroke (though this was denied by the authorities). "The punishments in French schools are impositions and confinements."--. WebCorporal punishment should be brought back in some circumstances, but NEVER on hands! Joe The King: 1999 Joe is spanked on his bare bum over his teachers lap in front of his class. There is no federal law addressing corporal punishment in public or private schools. 1992 judgment by the Human Rights Court about a seven-year-old who was slippered at a boarding prep school. Cuartas offers three steps educators and caregivers can take toward eradicating spanking in schools and homes: Recognize that spanking is not an effective tool of discipline in the classroom or at home. [121][122], Caning, usually applied to the palm or clothed bottom, is a common form of discipline in Malaysian schools. A few Christian private schools held out, and fought the ban through the courts, ultimately without success (see links below). Stretching Forward to Learn Nowadays, it is explicitly prohibited in sections 2.9 and 3.7 of the Education Act 1998,2 amended 2008: "Corporal punishment or other humiliating forms of treatment must not be used. Among the majority of mainstream state secondary schools, caning (usually across the seat of a bending student's trousers) had been particularly prevalent in boys-only schools of all types, from mediaeval grammar schools(5) to brand-new secondaries modern. Other crimes often punished corporally included bullying, cheating, insolence, missing detention, and truancy. (2) Whoever contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1) shall be liable to disciplinary action under the service rules applicable to such person." When parents or teachers use spanking, it doesnt lead to the desired outcomes in discipline or teach children how to regulate their My suspicion that there isn't really a solid consensus about this, and that perhaps an apparent consensus on the final outcome is being fabricated for reasons of political expediency, is strengthened by the fact that one of the judges here, Baroness Hale, goes so far as to say that she is "deeply troubled" by the approach adopted by the Court of Appeal. [228][229] The caning of girls is not particularly unusual, and girls are as likely to be caned at school as boys.[230][231][232]. It sanctions the notion that it is meritorious to be violent toward our children, thereby devaluing them in society's eyes. All that was the situation as at 1979. He went on to observe that "nature provided a special place for boys to be punished upon and it should be used". In 2008 a new round of controversy over the issue was set off when a survey found that one teacher in five, and almost a quarter of all secondary-school teachers, would still like to see corporal punishment reinstated. Manchester Grammar School was exceptional in going back from caning to birching in 1904 and in 1907 staunchly defending the practice as greatly preferable to caning. Some LEAs confined themselves to prohibiting teachers from striking pupils' heads or boxing their ears. True, a flurry of activity by the very short-lived "Schools Action Union" in 1972 briefly gained some press publicity, but this was a tiny, and almost certainly highly unrepresentative, group based entirely in a small number of London schools and manipulated, if not indeed created, by older students on the far left. WebSchool corporal punishment: The High School Cane: a Eulogy, a thoughtful comment on the cane's usefulness and efficacy in keeping mischievous teenage schoolboys in order, [citation needed] Other communist regimes followed suit: for instance, corporal punishment was "unknown" by students in North Korea in 2007. (5) But the traditional grammar schools, like most of the independent schools, would generally have used the birch until the mid- to late 19th century. Approximately 69 countries still allow for corporal punishment in schools, including parts of the United States and many countries in Africa and Asia. Web(1) Corporal punishment given by, or on the authority of, a member of staff to a child (a) for whom education is provided at any school, or (b) for whom education is provided, It was a mild example of what Americans call "locker-room culture", an often semi-jocular experience in an often "macho" atmosphere. Less commonly, it could also include spanking or smacking the student with the open hand, especially at the kindergarten, primary school, or other more junior levels. [8], Advocates of school corporal punishment[who?] [147] In 2013, the Pakistan National Assembly unanimously passed a bill that would override article 89 and ban all corporal punishment; however the bill did not pass in the senate. Black students are two to three times as likely as their white peers to experience corporal punishment, and boys make up about 80% of those subjected to the practice. But this was unusual, and the great majority of slipperings in British schools are believed to have gone unrecorded. Most of the boys were from local working class families, but the school had a good reputation and they studied hard. In many countries, like Thailand, where the corporal punishment of students is technically illegal, it remains widespread and accepted in practice (for both boys and girls). 144329 / Circular 9/82 / Re: The Abolition of Corporal Punishment in National Schools", "Circular M5/82 / Abolition of Corporal Punishment in Schools in respect of Financial Aid from the Department of Education", "Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997, Section 24", "Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Bill, 1997: Second Stage", Corporal punishment of children in Israel, "Children's Rights in Israel: An End to Corporal Punishment? In some countries, almost all students report being physically [224], Corporal punishment in all settings, including schools, was prohibited in Venezuela in 2007. Most had anticipated the legislation and abandoned CP voluntarily several years earlier. The use of corporal punishment in schools was prohibited by the South African Schools Act, 1996. He takes the view, which I tend to share, that corporal punishment, in the great scheme of things, is not actually a very important issue one way or the other. As far as I know, this is what the 1986 legislation already said, so perhaps this was just a consolidating act. Then in 1977/78 came the National Union of School Students, marginally longer-lasting but scarcely any more representative of pupils generally. [126], The Education Act of 2008 prohibits all corporal punishment in schools. Locke's work was highly influential, and may have helped influence Polish legislators to ban corporal punishment from Poland's schools in 1783. This kind of arrangement seems to have been typical of many secondary schools. [166] Other more conservative regions are governed by a national law enacted in 2011 which states that while caning is generally forbidden, it can be used indirectly to maintain school discipline. Reading between the lines, I wonder whether the whole thing was pursued by the mother rather against the boy's wish, and since by the time the case reached Strasbourg he had become an adult, he was able to decide for himself to back out. Purley High School for Boys The Commission was divided (there are three dissenting opinions) but the majority thought this particular caning, which caused weals, swelling and bruising, was, unlike other school cases considered, serious enough to be "degrading treatment" under Article 3 of the Convention. The 100+ local education authorities (LEAs) in England and Wales -- created in 1902 to replace the old local school boards -- formulated their own rules, or in some cases decided not to have any rules. [100] Corporal punishment is considered unlawful in schools under article 371-1 of the Civil Code. This campaign gave rise to a joke on the left of the NUT that NASUWT stood for "National Association of Sadists and Union of Women Torturers". The original application was by the boy's mother, who was "horrified" when she saw the "injuries" on Matthew's backside, but it is interesting that he showed them to her only after his sister called attention to them, and he himself had not spontaneously thought the matter worthy of mention upon his arrival home that day. In addition, the obligation of member states to prohibit corporal punishment in schools and elsewhere was affirmed in the 2009 Cairo Declaration on the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Islamic Jurisprudence. A 1977 survey of young people found that half of them were in favour of retaining CP at school, including many who had themselves been caned or strapped. [Source Global Initiative to End All Corporate Punishment of Children]. This is the Human Rights Commission's full report on the case of Matthew Prince, who in 1983 at age 15 received four strokes of the cane across the seat of his trousers for bullying at Brighton College, a private school. Corporal punishment used to be prevalent in schools in many parts of the world, but in recent decades it has been outlawed in 128 countries including all of Europe, most of South America, as well as in Canada, Japan, South Africa, New Zealand and several other countries. also constituted "philosophical convictions" and that they were therefore being denied an education in accordance therewith, since no schools are now allowed to use any corporal punishment. [212], By the 1970s, in the wake of the protest about school corporal punishment by thousands of school pupils who walked out of school to protest outside the Houses Of Parliament on 17 May 1972, corporal punishment was toned down in many state-run schools, and whilst many only used it as a last resort for misbehaving pupils, some state-run schools banned corporal punishment completely, most notably, London's Primary Schools, who had already began phasing out corporal punishment in the late 1960s. [209] In a few English cities, a strap was used instead of the cane. [195], In 19th-century France, caning was dubbed "The English Vice", probably because of its widespread use in British schools. In primary schools (ages 5 to 11), and in the pre-1950s all-through elementary schools (age up to 13), slapping with the hand, applied to bottoms or hands or arms or legs, appears to have been the physical punishment of choice. [156][157] Harsh caning of girls and boys remains very common in schools. [155], Corporal punishment of children remains legal in schools, homes, alternative care and day-care centres. [172] Those who broke this law risked losing job and career; as a result, this historically well-entrenched practice soon disappeared. [210], Schools had to keep a record of punishments inflicted,[211] and there are occasional press reports of examples of these "punishment books" having survived. [110][111], In the law of the Republic of Ireland, corporal punishment was prohibited in 1982 by an administrative decision of John Boland, the Minister for Education, which applied to national schools (most primary schools) and to secondary schools receiving public funding (practically all of them). As of 2019, 32 states and the District of Columbia have banned corporal punishment in public schools, though in some of these there is no explicit prohibition. The legislation came into force in 1987, but most Scottish local education authorities had already abolished it To that extent the plaintiffs, who had initially claimed a breach of Article 3 ("inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment"), in fact lost their case, a fact almost unnoticed when the outcome was reported. [124] In November 2007, in response to a perceived increase in indiscipline among female students, the National Seminar on Education Regulations (Student Discipline) passed a resolution recommending allowing the caning of girls at school. According to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, "Children do not lose their human rights by virtue of passing through the school gates the use of corporal punishment does not respect the inherent dignity of the child nor the strict limits on school discipline". The European Court of Human Rights first challenged corporal punishment of children in 1978. WebCorporal punishment was banned in private schools in England in 1999. 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