Ethics Newsline®

LONDON
The ethics of classroom behavior dominated headlines in Britain last week following the release of a controversial report recommending the use of praise, rather than punishment, to control the unruly.

According to a report from the BBC, recently released national guidelines say teachers should praise pupils five times more than they criticize, and that disruptive pupils should be given prizes or letters sent to their parents in order to reinforce any improvement.

The idea received a cool reception from many teachers, whose national union is considering a strike over demands that teachers not be forced to teach unruly children.

The London-based Independent reports that delegates at the National Union of Teachers’ annual conference say they have been hit, spat at, and even stabbed by unruly pupils.

At the same time, another section of the report does specify that teachers have a right to use physical force against violent pupils, according to the Times of London. Teachers are given the green light to restrain pupils who are harming themselves or others, confiscate cell phones or personal stereos if they are being used against regulations, and search pupils suspected of carrying weapons.

In a related story, Britain’s education secretary told the union conference that video-posting websites should ban video clips of teachers and students who have become the target of cyber-bullying, the U.K. Guardian reports. In a statement prepared for the conference, Alan Johnson maintained that “the online harassment of teachers is causing some to consider leaving the profession because of the defamation and humiliation they are forced to suffer.”