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Singapore introduces caning for boys who bully others at school

theguardian.com

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Re: Singapore introduces caning for boys who bully others at school

#691

Post by array_key_first »

xyzelement wrote: post #605
almostjazz wrote: post #365

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where exactly is the physical strength of males necessary in modern society? The only circumstance in which there are men strong enough to so something that women can't do is at the most elite level of athletics. Any role relevant to society that would require that level of strength, we have machines for, because the majority of men and women are not elite powerlifters, and because they probably need way more strengt…

// Where exactly is the physical strength of males necessary in modern society? Almost every flight I take, a woman asks (or appreciates the offer) for me to help put her bag in the overhead compartment. My wife appreciates that I can can carry a double stroller with the kids on it up a few steps. The fact that you can't think of such examples might reveal more about you than about the necessity of strength in modern…

While this is true, these are nothing burger examples. The world will not crumble if you don't help a nice lady put her luggage in the overhead compartment.

Yes, as a man, our "strength" is mostly for show and is redundant in modern society. Also most men are not even very strong because we live sedentary lives. Because - surprise! - 99.9999% of all economic activity has nothing to do with strength.

This isn't ancient Rome and you aren't a spartan. Most men are fatties sitting at an office job. They don't have, nor need, strength. They need statins and metformin.

Re: Singapore introduces caning for boys who bully others at school

#692

Post by array_key_first »

lostmsu wrote: post #526
rlonn wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems there actually is a fair amount of research pointing to prohibiting corporal punishment for kids leads to better mental health, lower suicide rate, etc. and it does seem like a no-brainer to me that less violence leads to more stable individuals, and a more stable and happy society in general. In medieval times there was a lot of physical punishment, and society was violent, dangerous and unhappy compared to no…

> a fair amount of research pointing to prohibiting corporal punishment for kids leads to better mental health, lower suicide rate, etc But is that research of high quality?

Consider: not hitting kids is much easier than hitting kids, and also free. Ergo, if we're gonna be hitting kids, we need really strong research to show that it's effective. Which we don't have. The default should be DENY, not ALLOW, just like good security practice.

Re: Singapore introduces caning for boys who bully others at school

#693

Post by array_key_first »

VimEscapeArtist wrote: post #462

The comments here are fascinating. A generation of men who've never been in a physical confrontation in their lives are absolutely certain that physical consequences don't work. How would you know? A boy who bullies needs to learn that the world hits back. You can teach that with a cane at 13 or let him find out at 25 when he mouths off to the wrong person. One of these comes with a controlled environment and a schoo…

I just don't understand why people would think it works.

We used to do it. Shocker, it didn't work. Bullies were much, MUCH meaner in the past. Mostly it's just mean words now, which is still bad but better.

So, we had corporal punishment, it was bad. Then we got rid of corporal punishment, and it got better. Hmm, thinking caps!

Of course that's just correlative evidence. But we have literally no evidence anywhere from anyone that corporal punishment is good.

Re: Singapore introduces caning for boys who bully others at school

#694

Post by array_key_first »

bko wrote: post #601
simgt wrote: post #412

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, in advanced societies we tell children to never hit others .

... and then everyone stood up and applauded.

But that's literally what we teach.

Part of the reason men cause so much violence is because of people like you, your exact mentality. Which says that's its expected for men to be violence, so, c'est la vie!

Men are not just like... inherently violent creatures, that's a stupid and toxic mentality. No, they're socialized to be violent by other men, who were also socialized to be violent.

Re: Singapore introduces caning for boys who bully others at school

#695

Post by ungreased0675 »

gambiting wrote: post #264
chr1 wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Keeping them in school like it is done now, does not help them in any way, it merely transforms school from a place to learn into a mini prison where dysfunctional kids do not allow other kids to learn too. 15 year old who decides that he doesn't want to learn would be much better off if he gets expelled, goes to work at macdonalds, and comes back later, than the current situation where he gets to go to school and do…

>>Keeping them in school like it is done now, does not help them in any way Well of course not, because schools don't have the support they need to help those students in turn. >>goes to work at macdonalds I don't know where you live where employing 15 year olds is legal, but even if we assume some kind of state where it's allowed, what mcdolands would employ a 15 year old that was expelled from school? >>and comes b…

Right now, today, there are hundreds of millions of 15 year-olds with jobs all around the world. In the US this wasn’t uncommon two generations ago.

Re: Singapore introduces caning for boys who bully others at school

#696

Post by ungreased0675 »

danparsonson wrote: post #369
naasking wrote: post #359

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think we all shouldnt be too quick to assume that the problem starts with the person doing the bullying I don't think anyone is making that assumption, but being ok with corporal punishment likely comes down to three things: 1. We should care more about victims of violence than perpetrators, and all measures should be taken to protect victims and prevent victimization, even if it hurts perpetrators. Meaningful co…

How about when the perpetrators are also victims? If child A is bullying child B because they themselves are suffering abuse at home (as is often the case), don't both kids deserve help and support? Just beating up child A is no more productive a solution than throwing people in jail.

Do you have any personal experience with this?

I grew up in a place where teachers could and did beat children. School kids there are far better behaved than kids in US public schools. I’m not making an argument for it, just an observation of effectiveness. It works.

Re: Singapore introduces caning for boys who bully others at school

#697

Post by ungreased0675 »

nekusar wrote: post #476
ncr100 wrote: post #417

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Singapore has 30% or more families using corporal punishment, according to this https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10311744/

And when it is permissible to say that a society is trash? Cause 30% who think beating children is OK, is frankly abhorrent. And yeah, Singapore society as a whole is pure trash. When you have monikers like, "Disneyland with the death penalty", you know it's a real authoritarian shithole. https://thediplomat.com/2026/05/is-singapores-legal-system-b...

You should travel more.

Re: Singapore introduces caning for boys who bully others at school

#700

Post by jpfromlondon »

Reading a lot of the comments here is pretty depressing, I thought things had improved since I was a boy.

My school (posh, British) turned a blind eye to bullying and fighting, there wasn't a great deal but I distinctly remember walking past a teacher having recently been punched in the face, bleeding from my mouth, and him acknowledging that I looked in a state but doing nothing.

Since I never turned away from a scrap I never really encountered bullying, now I have boys of my own and hope that when they're of school age they don't have to run the gauntlet as I did.

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