English school pupils vote to retain caning

Press, 12 November 1980, Page 25

English school pupils vote to retain caning

From KEN COATES < •. in London Pupils at a comprehensive school have voted against i proposals . to abolish caning and compulsory school uniforms. A poll was carried out at Brook comprehensive in Sheffield, where the city council is seeking the opinion of staff, parents, and pupils on these issues. The deputy head of the school, Mr S. Stokes, says a questionnaire was handed to all 800 pupils. More than 80 per cent favoured retaining both corporal punishment and uniform. Mr Stokes is not surprised: “Boys always say they prefer caning when it is fair. Other punishments such as detention can drag on and create resentment.” He said that the strange thing about the survey was that all the teachers in the social education department who organised the survey were opposed to corporal punishment; . They were very surprised. But Mr Stokes said it . was not a particularly strict school and the cane was given only as a last resort. Meanwhile, the Council of Europe’s Commission on Human Rights has con-

demned the use of the belt, or tawse as it is more commonly known, in Scottish schools. In a long-awaited report, the council has ruled that while the tawse is not an inhuman or degrading punishment, it is a violation of human rights and contrary to the European convention on human rights. Complaints were made by two mothers, Mrs Jane Cosans, of Cowdenbeath, Fife, and Mrs Grace Campbell, of Bishopriggs, near Glasgow. Both refused to allow their sons to be given the belt at school. Scottish teaching unions, broadly in favour of the eventual abolition of the belt, but not strongly opposed to its use as a “last resort” deterrent, are expected to advise the Government, which will contest the decision. It has asked the European Court of Human Rights for an open hearing on the use of the tawse. A teachers’ union in London has declared a dispute with the Inner London Education Authority over its decision •+' to ban corporal punishment in all its secon'dary schools from February'.