Prairie Girls

 

Emily

Hello, again. Many exciting things happened at Globe school. The Christmas program was one of my favorite events. I played Mary, the Mother of Jesus, in this year’s program. Billy, the bully, left school after his daddy was injured in a mining accident, but they both attended the Christmas program. I hoped he had learned the importance of treating others well, but he left before I could speak with him. Later, Mum said I could invite Billy and his daddy to our Christmas dinner.

Old-fashioned Discipline

It seems that the biggest discipline problem in schools today is the same problem endured since the beginning of time: bullying. There is something in the nature of children that causes them to make fun of each other. The difference today is the "bullied” may make the decision to retaliate. No longer does the student have to just take it.

When I attended school, bullying existed, but was more often outside of school rather than inside the building. Part of the reason was there was a deterrent keeping many on the straight and narrow path of behavior. If I got into trouble at school, I knew I was in trouble at home. There was also the risk of corporal punishment…the paddle.

I kept on the straight and narrow at school, so I had no experience with a paddle. The situation changed, however, when I became a teacher. Corporal punishment was still in existence when I began my career. It had a profound effect upon the entire school. In the old days if someone got swatted by a teacher, it took place outside the classroom in the hall. The halls were usually quiet during class, and the sound of the swat was heard on all three floors of the junior high where I taught. If the door was open everyone heard it; I could count on my classes being good the rest of the day.

Then laws changed, and there had to be witnesses to make sure teachers didn’t hurt the child. (Was that not the purpose of the paddle?) A parent was offered the opportunity to swat the child instead of the administrator or teacher applying the punishment. You would be surprised how many parents when called replied they would be right up to the school to do it.

Did I ever swat a student? I did, twice. It gave me a headache each time, but I also saw a positive change in the two boys I paddled. Did I see it abused? Yes, I witnessed a principal deliver a swat, and the kid moved. It caught him in the small of the back. The parent standing there saw it, but supported the school and actually thanked the principal for his efforts.

I am glad that corporal punishment is not allowed in my school system any longer. What I miss is the parental support that accompanied the swat. Then I wonder-could we save lives by preventing a student from retaliating with the delivered swat of a paddle on a bully?