Do you believe corporal punishment was abolished in schools because they found out certain pupils were secretly enjoying it?

@Sharon What do you think the real reason it was abolished was, Sharon?

@MaryDreamilton `Some people were caned repeatedly. Which showed, as a "punishment" it never worked. Instead, it just taught pupils violence is the answer to most, if not all problems.

@autumngirl27 I don't class corporal punishment as violence. There are one or two people who do, but they are in the minority.

@MaryDreamilton They are most definitely not the minority. That is why it was banned and there has never been any real desire to bring it back. Whether or not you have a fetish for punishment role play is totally irrelevant.

@MaryDreamilton Beating children against their parents' consent was a breach of the European Convention on Human Rights. To comply with the treaty, schools would either have to stop beating children or obtain the child's parents' consent. Headteachers couldn't bear the thought of allowing parents to have any say in how their children were treated in school so had to accept the only option left.

@Sharon The thing is, it wasn't usually against their parents' consent. The majority of parents approved of it. As for that "breach of the European Convention on Human Rights" malarkey, most of us around here don't give a fig about that even now. Most of us never really wanted to become part of Europe anyway, but that's a story unto itself so I won't go into it here.

@MaryDreamilton Those whose human rights were being abused cared very much about the ECHR. The convention doesn't only protect foriegners, as Farage dishondestly implies, it also protects British citizens. That's why men can get free prescriptions (in England) anod other old peoples benefits at the same age as women can. Until the ECtHR ruled that discriminating against men was a breach of he convention, men had to wait until they were 65. It's also why insurance companies and employers are no longer permitted to discriminate on the basis of sex. If Farage gets his way, we could see a return to the days when women were paid less than men and were fired when the got pregnant.

@Sharon I doubt very much if Farage will get his own way, his party are not strong enough. But the truth of the matter is that we British shouldn't have to rely on Europe to protect us and grant us our rights. I live in a large cosmopolitan city that accepts people from all over the world, but that doesn't mean we think Britain should be ruled by some larger organisation. And we believe in equality of gender here as well. But we didn't develop that from being part of Europe either.

@MaryDreamilton The UK Government was taken to the European Courts at least twice in order to force it to give men the same rights as women, in respect of bus passes and free prescriptions, so it's clear that the UK Government of the time did not believe in sex equality. More recently it was again taken to the European court to force it to outlaw sex discrimination by insurance companies.. Previously women were charged less than men for motor insurance.

The fact is, we have had to rely on Europe to protect our human rights. UK Governments are too fond of signing international treaties and then, when the TV cameras are turned off, ignoring their obligations.

As for being ruled by "some large organisation", why should individual towns be ruled by county wide councils? Why should counties be ruled by national governments? Why should countrie like Wales and Scotland be ruled by the English dominated UK Goverment? How about home rule for Cornwall? Where should it stop? I, for one, am very grateful that, ultimately, we curently have the European Court of Human Rights to protect our interests.

@MaryDreamilton Britain (or any other European country, for that matter) are not "ruled" by the ECHR. The job of the ECHR is, if you like, an arbiter, a referee. National governments have a rssponsibility to govern fairly, as well as the right to pursue its policies when in power.

With the ECHR you have the right to practice sexual preferences on any consenting adult, such as being turned on by consensual caning. It also includes the right to assembly, the right to demonstrate, the right of fair treatment at work, the right to legal processes including fair representation in court; the right of equal treatment of gender and sexuality, the right to marriage equality, and I could go on. The fact that Britain (for example) has been taken to the ECHR to overturn injustice shows that even with the best intention in the world, national governments don't always get it right.