In the Herald today is a story about how police are going to be stationed at the worst schools in South Auckland to keep order. I almost couldn't believe it when I read it. What occurs to me is that this has come about because we're so afraid of disciplining a child at home or at school (and have had a pushy Helen-knows-best government nose it's way into our home lives) that police are now required to keep order at school.
Have things really got so bad? Things have swung way too far in the wrong direction. Perhaps caning might be a little too far to the other extreme, but surely there is a happy medium. When I was at primary school (a small country school that went from primers all the way to Form 2), we had 'the strap' with which a kid could be hit on the hand for something really serious.
I can only remember one or two kids getting it and most kids were well behaved. We didn't DARE say no to a teacher or give him/her any lip yet I don't remember feeling under any pressure or fear. It felt a safe place to be.
In giving our kids more responsibility and 'freedom', we are actually removing the boundaries that make them feel safe and creating more problems.