Part 4 - Discipline & Respect

All the children who came to school were well-fed, well-clothed and clean, and there were no problems with sickness such as epidemics. Nor were there any disturbed children - no disciplinary troubles whatsoever. We didn't have any aggressive children either; I never used the strap - there was one in a cupboard that someone had left - but I never used it, there was never a need. There was a corporal punishment book where incidences were recorded whenever a teacher had to use the strap, but I think there was only one entry in it.

As a teacher for twenty nine years I can look back at incidences that occurred during my career. In my second year of training I was at a very tough Brunswick technical school in inner Melbourne. It was in an era, thankfully long gone, where troublesome students were punished by getting the strap as a deterrent for bad behavior. Never worked. I had an advantage over other male teachers as I was a member of the State Basketball Team for four consecutive years and had the same standing of say an AFL player being a teacher with the relevance to follow.