The “should kids get the strap” debate is back.
And it Just. Got. Interesting.
Ben Fordham revealed this morning, live on the TODAY Show, that he is somewhat pro-strap. Fordham was responding to comments by Co-Chair of the National Curriculum Review, Kevin Donnelly, that Australian schools should bring back corporal punishment.
“The strap helped me get through school,” Fordham said.
Naturally, we needed to know more, so we called Fordham for a bit more detail.
“I was a trouble maker as a kid and one of the few things I was afraid of was the strap,” he told Mamamia.
“At school we’d be whacked on the hands with a leather strap if we landed in strife. If we were in deep trouble, we’d get 6 whacks across the hands. It bloody hurt physically, but it didn’t hurt me mentally. It taught me boundaries and consequences.”
Sure, use of a long black leather strap on the back of the leg or hand, was quite common a few decades ago. It was only in the 1980s that attitudes to corporal punishment began to change. And currently, the pendulum’s swung so far that even the thought of sending a child to the naughty corner is viewed by some as a ‘human rights abuse’.
In that context, the thought of a teacher these days legally laying a hand on a child seems totally absurd.
Studies such as the Australian Institute of Family Studies research paper have found that corporal punishment can often result in anti-social behaviour and poor academic outcomes for students. Without many other options available to them, teachers have been just been giving out detention as punishment.
That wouldn’t have worked on Fordham, he tells us: “I wasn’t afraid of detention. I wasn’t afraid of suspension. I was afraid of the strap.
“I’m not pretending it works for everyone, but for some reason it worked on me. There were hundreds of moments I decided to think again before doing something stupid, because I feared the strap.”
The Today Show/ 2GB radio host rejects the idea that getting the strap might turn you into an aggressive adult. “It hasn’t turned me into a violent person. I’ve never started a fight in my life. On the odd occasion someone wanted to fight me, I said no thanks and walked away.
“But just because it worked on me, doesn’t mean I want someone whacking my child with a leather strap. I don’t have children of my own yet but I can’t imagine I’d be comfortable having them come home with red hands after being whacked by someone I don’t know with a chunk of leather. ”
Yes, he knows that’s contradictory: “That might be a bit contradictory, but that’s life,” he said.
It’s a fiery topic, but also a dilemma a lot of parents and educators face.
On the one hand, no one wants a disruptive classroom environment. But does that mean returning to the days where corporal punishment was commonplace is the way to achieve it?
Did you ever get the strap at school? Do you think it should come back?
Top Comments
Hitting kids does not equal discipline!
There are lots of ways to discipline without violence. I am not anti-smacking and did smack my own kids at time, but it just isn't an effective strategy most of the time. You teach them to lash out when they are angry.
I am a high school teacher and I could not stand it if I knew a kid was going to be caned. I care about them as people and do not support the need for violence to teach respect, I don't think caning someone means they have respect, it means they are scared of you.
Having grown up in a violent household I can attest that the threat of a smack with the belt or strap was not a good thing, it didn't fix my brothers' behaviour and just made them resentful and angry, to the point where they have no relationship with our Dad anymore.
The problem with parents is not that they can't smack their kids, it is often that they are not consistent in enforcing the rules, which needs to be the same time and time again. They give wishy-washy rules and wonder why the kids act up. Be consistent with your consequences -that is discipline. People need to stop saying that if you don't smack or cane then you aren't disciplining, that is simply not true.
You are so right. The cane, strap or any form of corporal punsihment isn't right and could break a child mentally and physically. I don't understand how people can even think about starting up the strap and the old fashioned ways again. It won't help the children in any way, only make it worse. When they use the cane or strap it makes kids think violence is right if it's with the rights things in mind but that isnt true, anything who thinks its right is wrong. No matter their reasons or their experiences.
My boss creates an incredible disruptive work environment with his behaviours. All employed there are confounded by his behaviour. We have all been trying to find ways of changing how he behaves and treats others. Can we all get issued a strap to hit him when he behaves in bad ways and uses his regular bad manners?