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2014/12: Should Australian schools use corporal punishment to discipline students?
Introduction to the media issue
Video clip at right:On July 15, 2014, Channel Nine’s Today program produced a segment detailing Kevin Donnelly’s support for corporal punishment. One of the commentators notes that corporal punishment did him no harm, but he would not want it for his own children. If you cannot see this clip, it will be because video is blocked by your network. To view the clip, access from home or from a public library, or from another network which allows viewing of video clips.
What they said...
'There are one or two schools around Australia that I know where it [corporal punishment] actually is approved of and they do it... If the school community is in favour of it then I've got no problems...'
Dr Kevin Donnelly, a senior research fellow at the Australian Catholic University.
'I remain convinced that inflicting a violent act on another person is not the way to bring about positive change in that person's behaviour'
Ross Tarlinton, the headmaster at St Joseph's College, Sydney
The issue at a glance
On Tuesday, July 15, 2014, Dr Kevin Donnelly was interviewed on 2UE. During the course of the radio interview Dr Donnelly indicated his qualified support for corporal punishment in Australian schools.
Dr Donnelly is currently half of a two-man team charged by the federal government with reviewing the Australian National Curriculum developed under the previous Labor government.
Given his position of influence, many educationalists and commentators reacted negatively to Dr Donnelly's comments and issues surrounding the use of corporal punishment in schools were debated within the Australian media.