Posting I have made an amazing discovery. As I grew up in South Africa, corporal punishment was as part of life as the sun shining in the morning. In my opinion there are many good things and bad things about corporal punishment. In my class being able to speak/monitor to more than 50 students at a time is just about impossible. My students just seem to revert back to speaking Chinese during class discussions, especially when the topic is challenging, or if their vocabulary is limited in specific fields. I asked the class about their continual speaking of Chinese in my class and I also asked for possible solutions. My solution (jokingly) was that I should throw chalk at each person whenever they speak Chinese. The response was mind blowing. Many of my students thought that this was an amazing idea. I was shocked. I then asked why and the response from 90% of the students was the same. They all said that if I throw chalk at a specific student that student will feel encouraged by the fact that I have noticed them making a mistake. I continued to ask the other six classes I teach and all of the results were the same. The students all like the fact that I will notice their mistake by throwing chalk at them. The harsh punishment has now become the gentle persuader.
Response This is a very interesting story. Corporal punishment has also been a part of life here in the Caribbean where I grew up. We are now facing a big problem of violence in the schools, (as many other countries are) and still the adult authorities cannot see the link between the two.
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