LONDON, ENGLAND, November 6, 2001: More than 40 British private schools are asking the High Court to restore corporal punishment two years after it was outlawed. Their headmasters say that discipline has plummeted, and students have become more unruly since the cane was banned. Physically punishing children with a cane or anything else was outlawed in fee-paying schools in 1999 and in all state schools two years before that. Since then, any teacher carrying out any form of corporal punishment faced being sent to prison. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children condemned the move to restore corporal punishment, saying children should enjoy the same protection from physical assault as adults. Director Will McMahon of the Forum on Children and Violence, said that if force is used on children, they are taught that it is right to inflict force on other people. Increased teacher training in alternative, nonviolent, methods of discipline successful in many schools around the world is needed.
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