Monday, November 05, 2007

Go on, beat the kids

When it comes to their penchant for pride of ignorance, disrespect for authority, and the adulation of the "Gangsta" culture, our young people in this country are world-renowned. But as bad as you think the students are in the United States, apparently Great Britain has it as badly, or even worse.

It has gotten bad enough that some British parents of African descent are sending their children to Africa to be educated and "straightened out". Part of that straightening out involves beating their ass - and I'm not being metaphorical. Schools in Africa tend to be Old School, which means the time-honored (and very effective) tradition of corporal punishment.

The Times of London ran an article on this growing trend of looking to Africa to save kids raised in the excesses of modern Western culture. Here is an excerpt from the article to get you going:
According to Oswald Amoo-Gottfried, the school’s founder and director, the key to the success of pupils such as Sienam is the kind of discipline that has long since fallen out of fashion in Britain. “I believe in caning,” he declared. “I tell the parents: if you don’t want your child punished, then your child doesn’t belong here.”

His school is quiet, the atmosphere studious. The youngest children sit in neat sailor suits; older pupils wear blue shorts and white shirts, while the senior students dress in smart trousers and T-shirts emblazoned with the school badge.

In one classroom 30 pupils are arranged in rows of desks facing their male teacher and the white board. They remain silent until asked a question.
Oh, how I wish... never mind, with so many squid-spined parents in this country, it will never happen.

Good Day to You, Sir

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

I see! So, it is a sign of an "islamaloonie" to wear a head covering, but severe physical violence against children is all fine and dandy?

The Vegas Art Guy said...

At that school it is. If you have a problem with it, don't send your kids there. Simple huh?

Donalbain said...

No. Not at all simple. Either beating children is wrong, or it is acceptable. If your boss decided it was OK to hit you because you didnt perform to his satisfaction, would you just accept that it was fine?

Texas Truth said...

I say go for it!!!! If it could only happen here!!!

The Vegas Art Guy said...

Well, where they are, it's OK. Would it fly here? No, but the parents know the rules and what happens going in. Maybe if the English education system was not such a grease fire the parents wouldn't have to send their kids to a school in another country.

W.R. Chandler said...

Nice wordsmithing there Donalbain, but "beating" your children is not the same as spanking your children.
Do you consider spanking across the derriere to be "severe physical violence"?

Of course my boss wouldn't hit me, because I am an adult. There are many restrictions on children that adults don't have to face; that's why they are children. My boss can't give me a time out in my room either, but my son often gets one when he misbehaves. When it comes to the behavior of my children, I don't just haul off and spank them for anything they do. There are a small number of misbehaviors that are non-negotiable. If my son runs away and does not return to me when I call him, that is a spankable offense. Better a sting on his bottom to remember that violation than being plastered across someone's radiator grill.

And yes, it is the sign of an "islamoloonie" to wear a head covering. You want to talk about "severe physical violence"? Go to one of these countries and just see what they do to women who don't cover up in public.

Do yourself a favor and Google "Saudi Arabia Girls School no. 31" and find out about real violence due to the head covering.

I suggest you take a long hard look inside yourself and get your priorities and your morality straight, because both seem to be rather skewed.

W.R. Chandler said...

One more thing, if you misunderstood my reference to "Go on, beat the kids", then you need to listen to more Pink Floyd. Start with a famous little ditty called "The Wall".

Donalbain said...

Firstly, I dont believe that morality changes from place to place. I believe it is wrong to inflict physical violence against children. Simple as that.
Secondly as for the cane, yes. It is SEVERE physical violence.
Thirdly, the fact that people do something worse than beating children with canes does not make beating them with canes any more acceptable.

W.R. Chandler said...

So you are equating spanking a child on the behind with a cane with forcing uncovered girls back into a burning building to die.

Do you know what moral equivalence is? You are practicing it right now, and it is an ugly thing to do.

Donalbain said...

Errr no. I didn't mention sending girls back into a burning building other than to say that it was "something worse" when YOU mentioned it. Now, you might not be a maths teacher, but "something worse" is NOT equal, and so I cant be equating them.

And yes, I have seen the results of people being caned, and it most definitely IS severe violence. The fact that worse things happen does NOT make something bad acceptable.

The defence of "But he is worse" was struck down by the Supreme Court of Mum in the case of Elder Brother vs Elder Brother.

Darren said...

Caining, in this context, is, if my British English serves me well, means something akin to "being whipped with a switch", something not at all uncommon in this country not too long ago. It's nothing like the Singapore caning punishment that we all learned about due to that kid in the 90s.

W.R. Chandler said...

Excuse me, Donalbain - was it not you who brought up this whole comparison of caning to head wraps in the first place? You might want to reread your very first comment to this post.

Donalbain said...

I mention WEARING head coverings. I said NOTHING about sending children into a building to die until someone else brought it and I agreed it was WORSE. That was someone else. And you suggest I need better reading comprehension. Ahhh, irony, thy name is blogging.

Donalbain said...

Well, yes. I would say that physical violence IS worse than expecting someone to wear a particular item of clothing. After all, clothing expectations are common in most (all?) societies.

However, I didn't mention compulsion of clothing expectation.

And you seem to be making some weird distinction between beating and the cane. How exactly do you cane someone without beating them with it? Do you just show them pictures of it?

Donalbain said...

Out of interest, have you ever had an "islamaloonie" in your class? Have you ever taught a girl who wore the hijab?

Dawn said...

Um...These parents did such a miserable job at parenting that they have to send their kids to a foreign country for corporal punishment?

Did others miss that bit?

Essentially the kids get beaten because their parents failed them. Nice.

Darren said...

Actually, Dawn, the kids get whacked if they do something wrong. Where did their parents fail them? Their parents failed to discipline them when they were younger--so now they're going to ensure the kids are disciplined. It's gotta happen eventually.

W.R. Chandler said...

Dawn,
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe corporal punishment is illegal in Great Britain, whether it is administered by schools or parents. I don't think the parents can spank their kid even if they want to.

Donalbain said...

Have
You
Ever
Taught
A
Muslim?

W.R. Chandler said...

Yes
I
have.

Quite
a
few
as
a
matter
of
fact.

Why
do
you
ask
in
such
a
strange
manner?

W.R. Chandler said...

As a 7th grade history teacher, I have even taught a unit on Islam to my Muslim students. Does that frighten you?

Donalbain said...

It doesn't frighten me. But I wonder how you can teach someone when you have so little respect for them before they even enter the classroom.

W.R. Chandler said...

Who said I don't have any respect for them? Some Muslim student of mine were totally neutral on the controversial topics, and others argued with me and tried to tell me that Islam was not spread through violence in warfare back in the 7th century and beyond, which is absurd.

I don't have respect for people who are in favor of gross human rights violations as part of their religion.

If that makes me a bad person in your eyes, then I am happy to disappoint you. Try not to have such an open mind that your brain falls out of your skull.

Donalbain said...

Well, what gave me the clue that you might not respect Muslims was when you said that wearing a headscarf was a sign of being an "Islamaloonie". Call me weird, but that doesn't sound terribly respectful to me.

W.R. Chandler said...

So, you are saying that the people who run the country of Syria are NOT a bunch of Islamoloonies?

That's where I used that term of which you speak: a post about Nancy Pelosi wearing a hijab for them, and in that same post, I called out Laura Bush for doing the same thing for our Islamoloonie Saudi "friends".

Yep - it appears your mind is so open that your brain has fallen out.

Donalbain said...

I asked you, very simply if wearing a headscarf is the sign of an "Islamaloonie", you agreed that it was. I didnt ask if wearing a headscarf while being Syrian was a sign of anything.
But, since you are just resorting to personal insults, I will terminate this discussion.