Is it ok for the state to detain your kids at the weekend for nowt?

I think Dave W's post describes the erosion of the general acceptance of ‘authority’ mentioned. Discipline is a foreign concept to many children now (for a raft of reasons I'm sure), the teachers have had all the tools removed from their kit and are expected to maintain discipline from unruly pupils.

If I was a teacher would I like to see the re-introduction of the cane? A large part of me says yes please, the rest of me lives in fear for the children that would be on the receiving end of some sadistic and ill-equipped teacher and the all but certainly poorly planned and implemented guidance on use. I would rather the children run riot. I would further like for the parents to back teachers more than they do currently (a sweeping statement I know). I often wonder if the parents themselves are equipped to provide discipline.

I'd also like to thank Head Teacher Dave W for highlighting a new word that I took upon myself (as my education taught the value of research and learning for it's own merits) to look up - "concomitant" - naturally accompanying or associated.

 

Also used as meaning - dependent upon or in conjunction with.

It's a rather amorphous word as it encompasses many correlations between words and meanings.

 

I always found that, when dealing with the Civil Service, it was best to outdo them in the verbosity stakes.

There were some fun times when I had used obscure or archaic words and they had to admit that they didn't understand what I was saying - or better still, pretend they did and make a fool of themselves.

I never did it to anyone who hadn't already started using gobbledegook in their missives.

I, once, accused a government minister (just his department) of deliberately using amphigory to try and confuse me. His department sent my response up the line and I got a humorous letter back from the Minister saying that their department were now attempting to revise their communications into more understandable English.