should they bring back the belt?

Does anyone else agree with me that childrens' respect for teachers, people in authority, adults etc.. has almost gone completely.

Particularly in school what punishment is there to deter bad behaviour - suspension, expulsion???!!! - Are they true punishments?

As a Mother of two, not that they have been but if either of my kids were suspended or expelled, they would be delighted not to have to go to school.

Kids nowadays, tend to address a lot of their teachers by their first names instead of Mr, Miss, Mrs or Sir. I know that the teachers are trying to get a better rapport with their students but by doing this they are taking away their authoitarian figure a bit. The kids then think of them more as chums rather than teachers. They muck about in class....I know, my Son tells me of some of the antics that go on and I'm shocked.

When I was at school (quite a while ago!!!!) we were actually a little scared of the Head Master. He had power over his whole school. The teachers were there to be respected and obeyed. There were strict rules and if you broke a rule, you got the belt. There were the clowns that thought getting the belt gave them status and made them "Big" but for the majority of the students, it was a big enough deterrent to make them tow the line.

Kids are being given too much freedom and all that is happening is that they are out of control. There is nothing really to put them off any more and I believe that this has to change NOW.

Kids will always test the boundaries - its part of them growing up and finding their way in life but there HAS to be rules that HAVE to be obeyed or else....

What do you think?