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Show Home And School: For Fair Discipline In the "olden days" many a youngster dreaded a walk with Dad to the woodshed tor a disciplinary dis-ciplinary session. -DURING THAT era, many parents assured teachers that if Billy disrupted the class, his Mom and Dad would fully support a spanking, switching or knuckle-rapping. A recent survey of Salt Lake parents indicates that things have changed. ASKED HOW students should be disciplined if they are disrupting the class, only 9.4 per cent of the responding parents said court-approved physical punishment should be allowed. Without getting into the merits and disadvantages of -woodshed discipline, it can be. said that many experiences . nave shown that children can be disciplined successfully without corporal punishment. BUT IT ISN'T a simple matter. Too many times in too many American homes Billy gets his seat warmed because he didn't get out of Dad's way when Dad was angry- not because Billy really deserved it. TOO MANY TIMES Billy gets a few whacks for failing ' to obey when Mom said "Don't do it"- after she's let him get away with the same crime a hundred times. Too many times Bill is told not to do something not because it's wrong- but because it would cause a minor inconvenience to the parents. FAIR DISCIPLINE required follow-up. If you tell Billy to take out the garbage and it doesn't get done, he must know somehow the lapse is going to cost him. Perhaps ' he'll lose part of his allowance or some privilege. The punishment should fit the infraction, too. It's hardly fair to "ground" Susie for two weeks if she gets home two minutes late from a date. ,' |