Corporal punishment, reporting in.

When I was first teaching at my school, I didn't know how much disciplinary power I had over my students. Am I allowed to make them sit outside the classroom, for example, or to even dismiss them entirely? After all, they're paying good money to be in these classes. (The answer, by the way, is yes.)

A big part of dispelling my fears came from my first round of PTMs, or parent teacher meetings. All of the parents wanted to know that their kids were behaving well and paying attention. There was little to no sense of entitlement from the parents of students with disciplinary issues.

The other part came from seeing the parents interact with their children. A great many still use physical punishment on their kids for acting up. Mostly it's a slap on the wrist or something, but once in a while I'll see a mother being quite forceful with her child's backside/thighs.

Now, I remember being spanked (once?) as a kid for acting up in church, and I'm sure I deserved it. No problem. But these parents are much more cavalier in dishing out smacks, and are not afraid to do it in front of other students, parents, and teachers. From what I can see, it's not effective as a long-term solution.

Kids are wily. As soon as their parents/teachers aren't watching, they'll act up again. In my experience, though, if you teach them why they shouldn't act up and provide incentive for good behavior, it'll stick.

100% effective? Nope. More effective than hitting them often enough that they don't care anymore? Damn right.