I do have a problem with using any kind of implement to hit a kid with. But it has gone waaaay the other way where, even though smacking a child is not illegal here, it is seriously frowned upon these days. That is a whole 'nother debate, though.
I don't think this story is necessarily about lack of discipline so much as lack of understanding of these kids by their parents. Surely the kids wouldn't just suddenly do something like this out of the blue for no reason. There has to have been some kind of a build up to it with the teacher in question, and maybe the parents just weren't listening to their kids when they tried to talk about it?
I support my son's school wholeheartedly when they discipline him for whatever reason. However, I am the first on the phone if he has been bullied in class (as often happens because of his red hair) and the teacher has done jack shit about it because he/she is either unable to control the chav element in the class or can't be bothered to intervene. There really are some teachers who are scared of the kids they teach and won't intervene when there is trouble.
