Letters: April 25, 2012

Teach them a lesson
This is a sad situation — the teacher in the report disciplined them without using physical violence, that’s a good thing (‘Dubai’s Indian High School to investigate reports of student humiliation’, Gulf News, April 20). The students must have been naughty enough to get such a punishment. From my experience as a student, my classmates used to give our teachers so much grief on a daily basis, and I remember the teachers screaming at the top of their lungs trying to get the students to quiet down so that they could start teaching. The average time to get them quiet was 15 minutes — each session was 45 minutes. I think students need to learn a lesson so that they behave and respect their teachers — it is something that they should be doing in the first place.
From Ms Olivia Carter
Ras Al Khaimah

For the better
I was quite talkative at school when I was young and I was punished many times — this included kneeling down for 30 minutes, hands up in the air and standing outside the class. All of these have prevented me from becoming a bad or worse human being. This is despite having strict parents at home. Today’s children are spoilt — with both parents at work, they have no supervision or control and have no respect for teachers. Whatever the teacher did is very mild compared to what we had experienced but never complained about.
From Mr Vincent
Dubai

Outdated
We are in the year 2012. The days of physically and mentally punishing students are over. It seems that the teacher didn’t get the memo.
From Mr Michel Sabbagh
Dubai

Inappropriate
A couple of weeks ago, my physical education teacher punished me for having a punk-style haircut by making me stand aside for two periods of 35 minutes each, watching the other 60 children play. Being an only child at home, this is the only time I get to play with my friends. It was so humiliating. The teacher should have at least given a warning first. The children in my school are allowed any hairstyle and it can be seen in all stylish forms, so why only punish me? The teacher could have asked me to go to class instead of making me watch the other pupils play.
From Mr Ash
Dubai

A proper lesson
Maybe the pupils should get this punishment because if the teacher gives them a regular punishment, then they will never learn to be disciplined.
From Mr Junaid Ahmad
Abu Dhabi

Need for punishment
The comments from some of the pupils are very disturbing. It makes one wonder why some schools need to opt for physical punishment when many, or rather most, institutions do not need to use corporal punishment to have order. The response to this report from some of the children should be taken very seriously by the authorities.
From Ms Pearl
Dubai

For children’s welfare
In earlier days, there were stricter punishments than this. However, parents were supporting teachers because they knew that they were doing it for the betterment of the pupils. Teachers are punishing children because parents are not teaching them basic manners and they are not paying attention to these things even after being warned.
From Ms Darshana W.
Dubai

Closing the gap
Let a committee be formed between the parents and teachers in order to resolve such issues. One cannot always judge who is right and who is wrong, after all they are human. Whoever was wrong must be punished. The gap between the teacher and pupils must be reduced to create a friendly atmosphere wherein the latter are able to learn a lot.
From Mr Zameer
Sharjah

Respect towards teachers
I don’t think there was anything wrong with what the teacher did. When the children are troublesome, what else can she do other than this? Teaching is not an easy task, as we all see it from the outside – it’s someone’s dedication towards teaching. Nowadays, the respect towards teachers has declined and the reason I feel this way is because of parents’ disrespectful attitude towards teachers. If a child is naughty and the teacher gives him or her a minor punishment, the parent will support their child and make a big issue out of it. So the child knows that their father and mother are superheroes who fight for them even if they do something wrong. This makes children disrespect their teachers and in the long run, even their parents.
From Mr Geo
Kochi, India

Discipline your children
If the parents controlled their children then this situation wouldn’t have happened. If some parents find this humiliating, let them teach their children manners and then send them to school. Raising hands is not a big issue. The teacher was only trying to discipline the pupils. Show the teacher some respect, as you will realise in a few years that the teacher was grooming your child for the future.
From Mr Razeen
Ajman