Punishment

I have been asked a couple of times about discipline in our school. In Ghana, there is a law about how you handle behavior problems at school. The law is... anything goes. So, at Our Lady of Holy Cross School, we have our own rules. The only person who can hit the children is the headmistress. However, that rarely happens. This passed week we had a couple of issues in our classroom. We had two girls cheat on a spelling test, and three students who just could not behave. When this happens, I take them down to talk to Sister Esther. When you mention that you are taking them down to Sister Esther or Maggie... their eyes start swelling, tears start flowing, and the look is TERROR. However, in order for it to work, we must follow through and actually take them down there to get their punishment.

For the behavior problems, the students had to hold their ears and bend down 50 times saying "I am sorry Madam Katie". For the one boy who has been a problem since nursery, he was taken into the back room to get a little "love tap" on his hands. Needless to say they behaved for the rest of the week after this incident. As sad as it was to see them cry, I could not help but laugh imagining what would happen if this was the procedure in the United States. On that note... for our two cheaters... Sister Esther was so upset and angry that students are already cheating in 2nd grade... she said she will not cane them. Instead, they picked weeds in front of the school from 8:30am until 1pm. Students who came late also joined our cheaters. They were then told to apologize to the class, and during the test today... we had no cheaters. Thank goodness!