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   ¢Æ  International ¢Æ

 
 
   Forms Of Punishment
  in the Canadian Public School System


 Over the past couple of years, the use of corporal punishment in the Korean school system has been a subject of much debate. As far as I know, many people believe that the old system of using physical punishment to keep students in line is outdated and barbaric. On the other hand, some teachers and parents believe that corporal punishment or the threat of corporal punishment is the only way to control students. To abolish it would create an environment in which the students would misbehave with a complete lack of respect for their teacher.

 As a visitor to Korea, I find this debate interesting and am curious to see what the final outcome will be. As a counter-point, I¡¯d like to give Koreans a chance to learn something about the ways that Canadian students are punished.

 First, beating students used to be an accepted form of punishment in Canadian schools. This took the form of hitting the students on their hands or backsides with a rubber strap or a wooden paddle. This was not a common form of punishment, as the threat of being strapped or paddled was usually enough to keep students in line. Being told to ¡°go to the principal¡¯s office¡± usually struck fear into the hearts of misbehaving students (as the principal and not the teacher would be the one to beat the student). However, this was usually only threatened in extreme cases and the principle usually only threatened to beat the students the next time they were summoned to the office. In the 1970¡¯s corporal punishment was phased out of most Canadian school districts.

 Today there are several levels of punishment commonly practiced in Canadian schools. The first form is known as detention. Detention consists of making the student stay in the classroom after school is finished. Usually for an hour or so. In high schools, where there are many students, there may even be a special detention room, supervised by one of the teachers. While in detention, students are often told to write lines. For example, if a student slept in class, his punishment would be to write, ¡°I will not sleep in class.¡± 200 times. Students consider detention to be an extreme waste of their time as they could be playing with their friends or watching TV during this time. Sometimes students are allowed to work on their homework while in detention.

 The next level of punishment involves letting the students parents know about the problem. In this case, the principal calls the students parents himself and lets them know that their son or daughter is having problems at school. This is considered quite serious for most students because their parents will probably punish them severely on their own.

 For much more serious offences, or for no improvement in the students behavior after several detentions and calling his/her parents, students may be suspended from school. A student who is suspended is forbidden from attending school for a number of days (usually a week or so). This is considered very severe punishment by most students and is likely to affect their behavior for the rest of the school year.

 Finally, the highest level of punishment is expulsion. When a student is expelled, he/she is sent out of the school for the rest of the year. He may start the same grade over again the next year or try to enroll in another school Students that are expelled often go to a special school for students with discipline or other problems.

 So, that¡¯s a general outline of punishment in Canadian schools. Most students don¡¯t experience more than a couple of detentions in their elemetary school days and some get through school without being punished at all.

 Is the Canadian system effective? These days, discipline problems are common, but not serious in most Canadian classrooms. Some people advocate bring back corporal punishment to keep kids in line, but the overwhelming majority of Canadians are willing to put up with a few misbehaving or troublesome students at the cost of sparing them from physical punishment.

 Can the Korean school system effectively abolish corporal punishment and still maintain discipline in the classroom? Only time will tell. Obviously the differences in school culture between Canada and Korea would make the Canadian system that I grew up with awkward at best. As university students who will have families of your own in the future, I¡¯m sure you¡¯re as curious as I am about what will happen.





                                                             Written by Indra Venables 
(a Foreign Professor)

   Update 2002.06.05

 

 

 

 

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