Dogs in America, Children in China

You might wonder, "How do Chinese teachers discipline the 30 or so children that they have in each class when the children are being very bad?" Here is what I have learned: the children in China (at least that I have seen) are punished the way dogs in America are punished when they are being slightly abused.

Of course, I have seen the children here punished in many ways. When children are being loud, not listening to the teachers, and are fidgeting and playing with their things, the teacher may grab the child by the jacket, kick over the chair, and haul the child to the front of the room. The child must either stand there for the rest of the class or bring his or her chair there to sit it. This is more of a mild punishment for the Chinese teachers.

I have seen many teachers go around the room with a rolled up piece of paper, threatening children who are not behaving properly. The sight of the rolled up paper inspires the children to quiet down and sit correctly in their seats (back straight, legs together, feet together, hands on their knees, eyes on the teacher). I have had children offer rulers to me when the other students in the classroom are being too noisy, so that I can use the ruler on the students to make them quiet down. I, however, could not bring myself to use the ruler.

The worst I have seen is when a child, maybe five years old, was being very noisy, so the teacher had him come to her desk in the front of the class. She took the English book (which is no thicker than a magazine) and slapped him across the face with it. The noise reverberated around the classroom and the children stayed silent the rest of the class period.

I have also heard stories: In one of my classes, the children were acting like perfect pupils the entire period. Not a peep was made while I talked. They raised their hands, they acted out what I asked them to, and they played the games I explained. We had a wonderful time. But, it was extremely abnormal for them to be SO good. Why? I wondered. Why are they so good today? Did they just decide to be good for me from now on? Unfortunately not. When I asked the teacher, she explained that the night before, some of them had decided that it would be fun to climb onto the table in their bedroom and jump off of it. When the teacher saw, she punished them by making them get back onto the table, go into a crouching position, and stay without moving for one hour. By the end of the hour, all of the children were crying. So, that morning, all of the children were sufficiently scared to be very, very good in my class.

As a disclaimer, I do not know what happens in other schools, in other regions, and in other parts of China. All I know is what I have seen in this school, with the teachers that I teach with. But I have heard that this is not abnormal. Teaching in China has prepared me for many things, but the discipline style has not prepared me for how to discipline children in America!