Wednesday, January 13, 2010

spare the rod


the boy is generally well-behaved at home. but at school, away from our watchful eyes, when he is with his friends, i suppose anything goes.

so, when someone snitched on him, telling the wife that he has been caned by the teacher, she asked the boy if he had been fighting or talking during lessons. with much reluctance, he said that it was because he didn't complete his homework but he was quick to point out that the caning wasn't painful.


now that this is out, it dawned on me that he has been portraying the "good boy in school" image. he may have been punished before but has been keeping his misdeeds from us. perhaps he wants to live up to his parents' expectations - to behave in school & study hard. maybe that's why he emphasized that the caning was not painful, as if to justify the insignificance of the misdeed & its punishment. but we shall give him the benefit of doubt. as long as he is punished for school-work related offenses, i say,"bring on the cane!!"


however, i would begin to worry if he starts fighting or stealing.


He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.
prov 13:24

**Cartoon by Gado from THE DAILY NATION, Kenya**

18 comments:

foongpc said...

You are talking about your son? Well, I agree spare the rod and you spoil him. Young children can be disciplined but once they reach their teenage years, it's too late and they will start to rebel.

Unicorn Girl said...

Don't be too worried Doc . I used to be like the boy too once upon a time , to this very day mum & dad don't even know that my primary school teachers actually called me negative names !!!

Unknown said...

I think Doc, sometimes we let the boy go cheeky for awhile, they cannot always be good boys one lah... let them have some room and we as parent must be willing to lower ourselves to understand sometimes........

dont worry, they will turn out well by the grace of god

zewt said...

wow... never know the bible actually asked us not to spare the rod!!! :)

guess i can tell one hypocrite christians that she should caned he tyrant son silly. it's the same christian who always boast about how good and powerful God is and then turn around and say she is not going to church that sunday becos of those attacks... hypocrite!

doc said...

Foongpc,

yes, i was referring to my son. naughty as he is, i've been wondering why he never mentioned he's ever been punished by the teacher.

now i know.

doc said...

Unicorn Girl,

sounds like you turned out well in the end!

doc said...

Eugene,

being the younger sibling, we've cut him a lot of slack already & i think he knows that.

yes, by the grace of God.

doc said...

Zewt,

in those days when life was brutal, corporal punishment was the order of the day but these days, disciplne may be carried out in a more er....civilised manner, eg. TV ban, daily curfew.

btw, caning is allowed in schools in the US but not the UK.

Gandhi was once reported to have said that the reason there aren't more Christians in the world is because of Christians.

may that lady in question see the Light.

ilene said...

DOC, that's good discipline and he will remember for the rest of his life and you know what, when they grow up, they'll appreciate the caning that they've received - as told to me by my daughter.

fishtail said...

Years and years ago when dinosaurs were still roaming the earth, I was caned by the school Disciplinary Master (one stroke on the palm). But the entire class was too, and no one told my parents. For the life of me, I can't remember now why our class was caned en-masse.

Jo said...

LOL! My elder girl did the same thing once, hid from me that she was punished in school by being made to stand outside the class.. I can't recall what the misdeed was, but probably something to do with forgetting to bring a book. I believe they hid from you, because they felt embarrassed.

doc said...

Ilene,

i'm not sure if he'll remember this punishment since he has declared that it didn't cause him pain.

however, if he gets a TV ban for even a weekend, THAT will be painful for him!!

doc said...

Fishtail,

yes, i remember those Jurassic days when the Gang of Three (HM, asst HM & discipline master) struck fear into the students' hearts.

too bad we can't resurrect them...

doc said...

Jo,

i think kids want to appear angelic to their parents to maintain their privileges, eg. TV, computer, vacation, prersents, pocket money, etc.

we were all once like that, weren't we?

iml said...

There must be a good reason why he did not complete his homework. He deserves another chance. A stern warning would suffice.

doc said...

Iml,

more likely he already had a warning & this was his 2nd offence. in any case, being in a chinese school, i expect him to be punished, sooner or later.

it'll do him some good.

Adino said...

I used to get punished by teacher for not finishing my homework. But to me, most of the time I didn't even know I had to do homework.

Last time we didn't have those homework log books.

Perhaps he was just too distracted or bored in class like I was? I mean, maybe he wasn't avoiding homework on purpose?

doc said...

Adino,

my son is a bit dreamy & playful - he often doesn't pay attention & the wife will have to call the other mothers to ask what instructions have been given.

i suspect he has been punished before but has managed to keep them under wraps!!