i dont think that spare the rod, spoil the child is really applicable now a days...what a child really needs is the attention from his teacher not a rod. If in a class one teacher is handling 50 kids then its difficult for her. I can understand that. I believe that a child is good before he turns bad and caning is a catalyst towards that turn around. What we need is to avoid all those ingredients required for the chemical reaction to turn the child for the worse. Such ingredients can be anywhere...in the school, at home.