Discipline is on everyone’s lips at the moment, with a youth crime wave seemingly out of control.
There are two sides to the argument – one offering advice on stricter penalties, and the other saying it won’t work and more support is needed for the wayward behaviour.
I agree with harsher penalties, but I do see both sides of the argument.
Here we go again with back in my day … discipline never hurt me.
I got hauled up to the principal’s office day one of Grade 1 and got a pretty clear message about bad behaviour.
It was another nine years before I got caned at high school, which only happened once because I didn’t really enjoy it (I have a very low pain threshold, actually) and it never happened again.
In my view, it worked a treat: both times the threat of and, finally, the pain of.
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The last year of school, I got my licence, which had its ups and downs – like the time I was riding my motorbike around the outside of the footy field at the PCYC and the Sergeant came down, hauled me off the bike and kicked me up the backside with his size 10 police-issue boots, right in front of all my mates.
Did I go home and tell my Dad I had been assaulted? No way, as I would have copped a size 9 up the rear end.
A couple of weeks later, I was riding my motorbike with no stop light and got pulled up after I tried to hide from the motorcycle cop.
He gave me a lecture and took my licence off me, made me push my bike home about two kilometres and told me to turn up at the police station with my dad to get my licence back.
I walked everywhere for the rest of the week, telling my parents I needed the exercise before I finally confessed about what happened and we went and got my licence back – not before copping a spray at home and another at the cop shop.
If the interaction with the police happened today, it wouldn’t be me who was in trouble, it would be them, which I think says it all.
Actions used to have consequences.
Now, they have excuses and someone else to blame.
We have made our bed and now we are lying in it.
Note I said lying, not laying.
Ashley Robinson is chairman of Sunshine Coast Falcons and Sunshine Coast Thunder Netball and a lifetime Sunshine Coast resident.
