‘Licks’ will not solve problems

THE EDITOR: It would be a case of one foot forward and two feet backward if the Ministry of Education was to officially reinstate corporal punishment in our nation’s schools. The failure of the current system to effectively deal with its various disciplinary issues lies deep within the structure and traditions of the system and not in its dispensation of licks or not. This is too shallow for serious consideration.

Parents, guardians, teachers, administrators et al must work together with our students to develop them to the best of their abilities in an environment that is peaceful, positive and encouraging. We all need each other’s support and encouragement to get the job done and to be quite frank, in my 14 years working with violent young offenders and young people at risk both in Canada and TT, I have seen the tremendous progress to be made in non-aggressive and non-violent approaches to behaviour modification. The process is long and tedious with some individuals, but success can be accomplished with proper training of teachers and the necessary support systems for all concerned. It took the Swedes over 30 years to buy into the ‘no licks’ philosophy but eventually they learnt that to build a peaceful and progressive society one’s children must be treated with respect and dignity and be encouraged and supported in this process we call life ... If our leaders grew up without ‘licks’ I wonder what differences in TT there may have been today? More discipline perhaps?

GREGORY SLOANE-SEALE
Port-of-Spain