Recently three UK Newspaper polls (of adults in London) proclaimed 75% of those contacted "want corporal punishment reintroduced in schools?" And a telephone poll (parents of 5-16 year olds) reported 67% support a school's use of the cane. Now, my skeptical friend, if that many parents now support the use of the cane in their kid's schools, do you not agree some of those same parents are also using domestic discipline in their homes with their own kids? They are using corporal punishment and it's increasing.
To wit, in follow up to those Newspaper reports, a Professor friend had his male graduate students randomly interview 500 lads, ages 14-18, at shopping Malls (suburbs of London, Nov. 96) on many things. His data show 65% of the boys interviewed said they'd received corporal punishment from one or the other parent "at least once" during the past 30 days. That figure held strong regardless of social class or age, but more upper class boys said they'd received it "bare" than lower classed ones. Upper class ones reported they had been "paddled" or "spanked" with their pants (89%) and shorts (57%) "down or off," regardless of their age. [I don't know how spanked or paddled is used in Brit English] Those saying their family were "farmers" or listing their home as "rural" were the most likely to report having been "strapped bare." 49% of all the boys said they got corporal punishment "regularly." 22% reported having been caned "sometimes." Still that data show only 4% felt corporal punishment "unfair" or "a poor way to correct me when I am wrong." 74% said they though it should be "an option at school" and would make their own school "a better place to learn."
And the main Thai newspaper of 5 Nov has a front page color photo of 7 Thai boys (age 14) in their school uniforms with their shorts lowered to show the marks on their bare bottoms left by their teacher's disciplining them. No one's complaining he used corporal punishment on their bare bottoms, but the boys, as reported by the local Press, complained the teacher should not have left any marks, that's all!