Spare The Rod….

NYT, shamelessly pruned

Nicholas K. Kaloki’s icy glare and booming baritone are his only legal weapons these days against wayward students, now that Kenya’s government has officially banned his long wooden stick.
Though no precise records are kept, children’s advocates in Kenya report a steady stream of cases. The caning is often far more violent than the paddling that goes on in some American schools , and it occurs with regularity, especially in rural areas. Many parents and teachers, are pushing for the days when students were kept in line with a switch.

Mr. Kaloki filed a court case to restore corporal punishment in schools. (He) wants regulated caning for the good of the next generation. According to his plan, only bamboo sticks would be allowed, to sting but not enough for permanent injury. He wants only experienced disciplinarians, like the headmaster, to administer the blows, always with a witness to ensure sufficient restraint.

Governments across Africa have been banning it in recent years, some after signing international human rights treaties, but that has stopped neither the blows nor the appreciation of them. The perception that young Kenyans are losing their way is heard frequently here, and evidence of unruliness is ample. Kenya’s government recently eliminated fees to attend primary school, which greatly increased class sizes. Gamblers, drug addicts, and people who fight and engage in sex now attend classes.

Shiphrah Gichaga, a trained counselor and mother of four, said Kenya banned caning without providing skills for controlling classrooms. “The children had known the cane as the only weapon that was used in silencing them,” she said. “Now it is no longer there.”
“I think it would be a good ” said a recent college graduate who was caned as a child. “Now that it’s not there, the youth have become a hard-core lot.

Pupils, taking a cue from older, rowdier university students, have conducted walkouts to demand changes in school conditions. In extreme cases, they have set classrooms afire or chased away teachers.

“A lot of people are saying caning should be brought back into schools,” said Musau Ndunda, secretary general of the parents group. “They think discipline is the work of the teacher.”

“I am grateful that I was caned by my parents and teachers,” said Mr. Kaloki, who carries on the tradition when his three daughters step out of line. “My father was strict and would not hesitate to use the cane. In fact, I was caned rarely because I knew it could and would be used.”

Any of this sound familiar? Anyone?…anyone?….Bueller?..Anyone else watch this “big plan” run it’s course to Ritalin,
“resource” officers, and metal detectors in our cities highschools?

I think “always with a witness” should include the entire class, for a multitude of reasons. I also believe appropriate “negative reinforcement” of undesireable behavior in the home greatly reduces the need for either at school.

The Govornor’s “big plan” to legally ban parentally endorsed high school drop out at 16 is just another big lie too. Not only to the expectations of academicly underperforming kids, but to the expectations of the underchallanged ones as they count the ceiling tiles, again! I suspect a less than altruistic agenda and impending disaster.

The worse the situation gets for ALL students, as a result of piss poor administration, the more inevitable the bleat for more tax money, costly special protections, dubious additional “specialists”, and further wresting of authority from parents and community over the foundation of our next generation.

The history is RIGHT THERE, Let’s not repeat it, shall we?

For anyone not paying attention, Kenya boarders Somalia.