Bad Students Still Get Smacked in Taiwan
Posted by Stephen on
June 6, 2007
In Canada, if a student was lipping off or being an idiot, the school really has no power to do anything about it. If it gets to the point where the teacher is pissed off enough to take matters into their own hands, then the student is a victim and the teacher is evil. Take it another step, if a teacher ever laid their hands on a student, the teacher would probably be fired, and the paper would have a story of a young student being beat by his teacher, regardless of the possibility that the kid was being that big of a punk. Things are a bit different here.
I cracked the local Taiwan News (June 4th English Edition) to see a headline that said that teachers here were still hitting students. Still? Apparently their Education Basic Law was only ammended in 2006 to include a no hitting rule. In fact, the article went on to say that around 1.45 million students in the first half of the school year were already smacked around. Assaults included flogging, spanking, slapping of the face, and pinching or jabbing. Because of the law, some teachers have gotten around it by having misbehaving students smack eachother around. That’s certainly creative.
Punishment isn’t all about smacking either. Some teachers use other forms of behaviour modification such as getting pupils to stand in a corner, deprivation of food or water, or suspension of bathroom breaks. They’ve even used punishments like squat jumps and push ups. Since teachers aren’t allowed to hit anymore, Taiwan will probably see more use of these sorts of punishments. You’ll also probably see a population of very buff looking teens after doing enough squat jumps and push ups. Talk about a way of killing off childhood obesity.
It’s interesting to note that the lowest percentage of physical punishment was in Taipei at 36.7 percent while some other areas see as high as a 69.1 percent rate. This is all post Basic Education Law Ammendment which outlaws it. The question is, do students really misbehave that much? Or are teachers really just being too severe? Granted, there are some kids that have a serious attitude problem, but to have such a high percentage of them out of line and requiring punishment? Sounds a little off.
hitting students doesn’t help this is common in a lot of third world countries but it doesn’t help their student my cousin grew up in one and he was a smart ass so he got beat a lot at school ne wayz to make long story short he dropped out 5th grade cuz he couldn’t take being beat up all the time.
In South Korea, the situation is similar. Parents and teachers still use physical force to punish students. There are regulated “sticks” in schools to strike students with. I hear about these stories ALL the time at school…what can you really do…it’s sad to hear about it though.
I’m thinking they’re going to end up with a bunch of obese kids, because they’re making exercise a bad thing… it’s punishment. Even the kids that behave will learn that it’s punishment; they will be proud that they never have to do squats or push ups, and certainly will not do them on their own time.
You might have a point. Chinese kids are becoming rapidly obese however that can also be attributed to the heavy influx of fast food. Coupled with a distaste for exercise, that could be deadly.
These kids are just growing up to be pansies because their folks take care of everything. They whine and complain when they don’t get the latest Louis Vuitton handbag to go with their BMW LV edition.
I say Taiwan should bring back martial law and mandatory military service. Taiwanese kids these days are getting soft.
Why, when I was a youngster in Taiwan I used to have to walk 5 miles in my bamboo sandals just to get to the park. I had to squat in a little hole in the ground to take a dump. Goats had the right-of-way on the streets. These kids have it too good nowadays with their video games and sex before marriage.
My dad used to beat me all the time and I turned out a macho macho man! Mmm, is that cinnamon I smell?
Hmm, sounds kind of like Paris Hilton who whined and asked to see her psychiatrist a couple of times and today they let her out of jail after only a few days.
Exactly! Little princesses.
Now Paris gets to serve the rest of her sentence at home. I have a feeling her home is not such a bad place.
I can relate somewhat to the frustration of children not doing what they are told or not listening. I can remember countless times years ago when my sister and I used to argue incessantly and the only way she would listen to me (or so I thought) was when I screamed at the top of my lungs or hit her. I look back on it now and see that it was just me being childish, however to this day I still feel the urge to smack her across the face sometimes.
I don’t agree with teachers hitting their students regardless of what country it is however I think there needs to be a new method integrated into schools all over the world that put students in their place.
In this day and age in our country, the children are split into three categories:
1.rich, prissy little stuck up snobs who will never work a day in their life
2. obese, lazy white trash folk from the back roads most people avoid
and the 3% of the population left over of hard working kids with far too much time on their hands and far too big of attitudes.
*end rant*
-Ms.Caesi
I don’t think it is only with students as many countries impose various forms of punishment for committing crimes. Years back I recall a kid that I actually went to high school with getting caned in Singapore as he was caught tagging buildings or cars or something like that. In the US or Canada, that would never fly as a suitable punishment.