Unwilling schoolboys
Sir: It is sad to read, almost daily, of the increase of school indiscipline, including savage attacks on male and female teachers, and on fellow pupils both in the classroom and in the playground, sometimes with tragic results. The aggrieved teachers can do nothing about it, because neither corporal punishment, where permitted, as in the Isle of Man, nor detention, nor any other form of punishment can be inflicted on a pupil who refuses to accept it.
The cause of the problem is quite obvious, namely the compulsory extension of the ' school-leaving age. A majority of fifteenyear-olds, sometimes backed by their parents, do not want to stay at school any longer, and are determined neither to work nor allow other pupils to work. Everybody —not only teachers —knows that the class is much more frightened of the bigger boys than of the teachers, and curiously enough, it is this very fact which will go far to solve the problem.
If the extension of the school age were voluntary, a majority of the fifteen-yearolds, including the dissident law-breakers, would leave, but (and here is the point) a small nucleus of boys would decide to remain at school, partly from a laudable desire to improve their knowledge and partly to ensure a worthwhile job, or appointment, in due course. These boys, following the precedent to which I have referred above, would, with or without the help of the teacher, maintain order just as prefects do in the private sector of education.
I would ask the reader not to brush aside my solution of the problem, but consult with headmasters of the large, urban comprehensive schools, particularly those of schools most affected by the contemporary disease.! venture to think they will find confirmation of my solution.
F. E. Chappell, Setley, Brockenhurst, Hampshire
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