MovieChat Forums > Teachers (1984) Discussion > Surprised no one mentioned this....

Surprised no one mentioned this....

posted 14 years ago by torr59
18 replies | jump to latest

This movie was very 80's cheese but it had its moments and the point is well made that students need good teachers, even in the crappiest of districts. The scene where Ralph Macchio gets slapped across his face in front of the vicePrincipal Judd Hirsch, teacher Nick Nolte and everyone else would NEVER happen today. Social Services and even the police would be called in for child abuse charges. Growing up in the 80's, Im shocked to realize that this kind of thing went on all the time. I still get a kick out of Richard Mulligan probably being the best teacher and hes nuts.

[–] coolbluegreen 14 years ago

<<The scene where Ralph Macchio gets slapped across his face in front of the vice Principal Judd Hirsch, teacher Nick Nolte and everyone else would NEVER happen today. Social Services and even the police would be called in for child abuse charges.>>

Not in Texas. Corporal punishment is legal in Texas. The Republican Party thinks it's effective, too. They want to keep corporal punishment legal in schools AND make it legal in foster homes! Great, Texas Republicans! Let's take kids out of abusive situations and...place them in abusive situations! Don't believe me? Look at this:

http://static.texastribune.org/media/documents/FINAL_2010_STATE_REPUBLICAN_PARTY_PLATFORM.pdf

Here are the quotes:

<<Foster Care – We support eliminating bureaucratic prohibitions on corporal discipline and home schooling in foster homes
to help alleviate the shortage of foster parents.>>

and

<<We recommend that local school boards and classroom teachers be given more authority to deal
with disciplinary problems. We urge the Legislature, Governor, Commissioner of Education and State Board of
Education to remind administrators and school boards that corporal punishment is effective and legal in Texas.>>

Disgusting.

[–] leosgr8 13 years ago

Corporal punishment is NOT abuse. It IS discipline. Look at all the kids who didn't get spanked as adults - arrogant, liberal, Godless, greedy, and corrupt with a false sense of entitlement. If you spare the rod, you spoil the child.

[–] coolbluegreen 13 years ago

leosgr8 wrote: <<Look at all the kids who didn't get spanked as adults>> [this sentence is asking us to look at kids who didn't get spanked when they were adults impossible unless one has a time machine]

leosgr8 wrote: <<arrogant, liberal [what's wrong with that? Here's some definitions of liberal:

1. of or pertaining to representational forms of government rather than aristocracies and monarchies.
2.
free from prejudice or bigotry; tolerant: a liberal attitude toward foreigners.
3.
open-minded or tolerant, esp. free of or not bound by traditional or conventional ideas, values, etc.
4.
characterized by generosity and willingness to give in large amounts: a liberal donor.
5.
given freely or abundantly; ],

I like all that!

leosgr8 wrote: <<Godless,>>

What's wrong with that?

leosgr8 wrote: <<greedy, and corrupt with a false sense of entitlement. If you spare the rod, you spoil the child. >>

Prove it.

[–] leosgr8 13 years ago

coolbloogreen, you forget, Liberal is a curse word among the good. Liberals are evil, plain and simple, and you are an agent of that evil.

[–] Supertzar 13 years ago

coolbloogreen, you forget, Liberal is a curse word among the good. Liberals are evil, plain and simple, and you are an agent of that evil.

Wow!

Just a little insane, I guess. Like all republicans.

[–] telemoondo 13 years ago

"Just a little insane, I guess. Like all republicans."

hmmm...I think the first rule in taking the higher road is to actually take it.

[–] drxcreatures 8 years ago

Let's beat up all kids. That way the world will be better. Good Idea!

http://www.cgonzales.net & http://www.drxcreatures.com

[–] jejozi 12 years ago

Corporal punishment is the sign of a weak mind.

Tell ya what, next time you make a mistake, give me a call, I'll stop by and hit you a couple of times with a piece of wood, ok?

This will be the high point of my day; it's all downhill from here.

[–] jejozi 12 years ago

Ralph Macchio' character was slapped by his father. Looks like it was something that happened often. And look at what the character was; a JD. Violence begets violence.

"Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me".

This will be the high point of my day; it's all downhill from here.

[–] ajk718 13 years ago

Texas is not the only state where corporal punishment is allowed in schools...it is permitted in Arizona, Florida, New Mexico, and in states in the south and the Heartland...in europe, every country except the Czech Republic and France allows corporal punishment in schools....just look at the wikipedia page about it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporal_punishment

To be honest, I am actually okay with corporal punishment in schools....sometimes it is the only way to discipline some of these kids in public schools....and if hitting them is the only way to get through to them, then so be it!

as a matter of fact, i heard somewhere that in some states, parents can give permission to the principal and teachers to spank their kids to discipline them when they are in school.

[–] coolbluegreen 13 years ago

ajk718 wrote: <<To be honest, I am actually okay with corporal punishment in schools....sometimes it is the only way to discipline some of these kids in public schools....and if hitting them is the only way to get through to them, then so be it!>>

I don't think you can "get through" to ANY kid with a belt. You can't. If you are a skilled teacher, you can handle a classroom. If you can't handle a classroom, don't teach. Yeah, teaching is a skill and a hard one to master, too.

When you make corporal punishment legal, you make it legal for ALL kids. That means that a teacher can beat ANYONE -- not just "bad" kids -- ANY kid. And that's a real problem. That kind of power should not be in anyone's hands.

Do you know what the one thing -- THE ONE THING -- that determines whether or not a child is beaten is? It's the parent. It has nothing to do with the child. No, I don't think teachers should be allowed to hit students.

[–] council24 13 years ago

I completely disagree with coolbluegreen. I grew up in the 80's and when I got the paddle in school, I didn't make the same mistake twice. And I don't recall schools ever abusing that power. You make it sound like teachers are just smacking kids around for the fun of it. Every kid I ever remember getting the paddle deserved it! And the way I've seen some kids behave today, I'm sure some of them could use a good paddling to get them on track. Better than giving them meds and trying to be their "best friend", which seems to the answer for today's parenting techniques.

[–] coolbluegreen 13 years ago

council24 said, <<I completely disagree with coolbluegreen.>>

What exactly do you disagree with?

council24 said, <<I grew up in the 80's and when I got the paddle in school, I didn't make the same mistake twice.>>

Do you think any mistake you made could have been handled without paddling you?

council24 said, <<And I don't recall schools ever abusing that power.>>

Ah, but countless lawsuits and the anecdotal evidence of friends say that they certainly do. Ever read Oliver Sacks? He has written about what corporal punishment -- that was utterly abused -- did to him. Google him.

council24 said, <<You make it sound like teachers are just smacking kids around for the fun of it.>>

Some might, if they had that power.

council24 said, <<Every kid I ever remember getting the paddle deserved it!>>

How do you know? Really? You were a kid. Furthermore, you do not know every kid who got the paddle, nor were you qualified to say who "deserved it".

council24 said, <<And the way I've seen some kids behave today, I'm sure some of them could use a good paddling to get them on track.>>

If a "good paddling gets them on track,>> how come so many convicted felons come from backgrounds where corporal punishment was common? People have been flogged for centuries -- and crime has always been with us. It doesn't work and it's not necessary. http://www.jstor.org/pss/354017

council24 said, <<Better than giving them meds and trying to be their "best friend", which seems to the answer for today's parenting techniques.>>

Let me tell you something -- I have worked for the past 15 years in some inner-city schools you would be afraid to enter. I have never, EVER, found a kid I couldn't manage and I sure as heck didn't need corporal punishment to do it. If you are using corporal punishment, it just means you don't know a better, more effective way to discipline. I get kids to graduate, council24. Kids go to freaking COLLEGE because (in part) of the way I manage them and I need nothing more than my words. If you need something more, I suggest very strongly you take a parenting class. Furthermore, if you hit something vulnerable, something that cannot fight back, you are an abuser. It's illegal for one citizen to assault another -- how can it be legal for adults to hit children?

You might want to look at this, too: [urlhttp://www.hrw.org/news/2010/04/14/corporal-punishment-schools-and-its-effect-academic-success-joint-hrwaclu-statement[/url] This quote, in particular, interests me, "Evidence shows that students with disabilities are also disproportionally subjected to corporal punishment. The Department of Education has reported that although students with disabilities constitute 13.7 percent of all public school students, they make up 18.8 percent of those who are subjected to corporal punishment.[11] In many of these cases, students were punished for exhibiting behaviors related to their disabilities, such as autism or Tourette's syndrome.[12] "

[–] drxcreatures 8 years ago

To be honest, I am actually okay with corporal punishment in schools....sometimes it is the only way to discipline some of these kids in public schools....and if hitting them is the only way to get through to them, then so be it! <--LOL Trust me. It doesn't work.

http://www.cgonzales.net & http://www.drxcreatures.com

[–] stevenackerman69 14 years ago

He gets slapped by his dad after he yells, "Hey, why don't you all just shut up for a minute, all right?" after his dad tells his mom in the group argument to shut up. He then says to Eddie, "You don't talk to me like that." Actually, you are supposed to not talk rude to your parents. But then Eddie storms out, telling his dad to f--- off and then the dad and Alex start arguing and almost coming to blows but Roger breaks it up so there are some repercussions to the slap even then. And as for the late Richard Mulligan, he was funny in the role, and he wasn't even a teacher, just some outpatient who gets hired by mistake.

[–] torr59 14 years ago

In PA, social services would have arrested him. Last week, a woman was arrested for striking her daughter in the hallway of the hospital. She yelled at nurses that tried to help and then left the building. She was pulled over by police and arrested for assault. Social Services placed the underaged teen in custody of grandparents. I reiterate: IT WOULD NEVER HAPPEN TODAY!

[–] jejozi 12 years ago

He was slapped by his father, not a teacher. Just watched that scene.

This will be the high point of my day; it's all downhill from here.

[–] jefgg 11 years ago

Those were the good old days.