Guideline would allow teachers to punish misbehaving students

A draft regulation aims to give schoolteachers the right to punish students for minor violations of school rules, such as requiring them to stand for up to 40 minutes to reflect on their behavior.

Issued on Friday by the Ministry of Education, the guideline aims to ensure primary and secondary school teachers have the authority to hand out punishment. It also clarifies teachers' rights in exerting discipline.

For minor offenses, teachers can also call out students, make them do moderate physical exercise, or keep them at school for additional teaching.

Teachers can suspend students with serious or repeated violations, such as bullying other students or abusing teachers, for less than a week.

Serious offenders can also be asked to attend an education center or transfer to another school.

However, teachers are banned from using corporal punishment, asking students to stand for too long, verbally abusing them or punishing all students for an individual offense, according to the draft regulation.

The public has one month to send suggestions on the guideline by visiting www.chinalaw.gov.cn, or sending emails or letters to the ministry.

Xie Wenfeng, mother of a fifth-grade student in Shanghai, said she agrees with giving teachers the right to punish students as long as they do not abuse their power and punish them at will.

"Teachers used to be much stricter with students in my school days," she said.

"Every classroom had a wooden stick used by the teachers to point to the blackboard, but another function of that stick was to punish disobedient students."

Students would be hit on their hands or even on their head, which seems unimaginable today, she added.

Xiong Bingqi, deputy director of think tank 21st Century Education Research Institute, said although cases of students mistreatment have infuriated the public, there has been a broader consensus that teachers should have the right to give education-oriented punishment and remain the authoritative figure in their classrooms.

Local authorities needed to be more specific on what kinds of behavior should lead to punishment, the extent of the punishment and who should supervise the process, he said.

Yin Guiling, a high school teacher in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, said it has been more difficult to discipline students because many teachers have been punished by schools for doing so.

Some students who have been spoiled at home tend to disobey teachers frequently in class, so more teachers are reluctant to punish these students to avoid conflicts with parents and school administrators, she said.

Discipline is very important because it teaches students rules and lets them know that they cannot do anything that they want, she added.

"I think most teachers punish students because they care about them," Yin said. "But for students I'm totally disappointed with, I'll not even say a word about their misbehavior."