Indian teachers give corporal punishment a bad name

When I went to school the threat of getting the cane was a sobering factor in any plan to create mischief and mayhem. It didn't stop us, mind you, but it sure did make us think about the consequences of getting caught.

Indian teachers seem to have gone a tad overboard...

HYDERABAD: In a shocking incident, the principal of a school in Andhra Pradesh gave electric shocks to a 10-year-old student. Police in Tuni town on Saturday registered a case against the principal of a residential school run by a Christian mission. Police were on the lookout for the principal, who allegedly justified the punishment before escaping to evade arrest.

...The incident came close on the heels of another one where a school teacher allegedly pushed a five-year-old student so hard that he injured his tongue badly.

... Last month, the head master of a private school in Mahabubnagar district was arrested for allegedly chaining a Class III student as punishment.

And what will the negative consequences of all this be?

The series of incidents has evoked strong protest from student organisations and rights groups, who are demanding a ban on all forms of corporal punishment in school.

Yep. Teachers might lose their God-given right to thrash recalcitrant and stupid students to within an inch of their lives.

What is the world coming to?