This is relevant to me enquiry as it shows us how boys and girls are treated differently and punished differently. (See sheet 2).
Therefore, to understand the changes in crime and punishment in schools we need to examine the punishments given and the reason for it in Victorian school and the schools in the present day and the most extreme punishments which can be given to pupils in both Victorian schools and the schools in the present day.
The contexts show the sociological concepts of sexism and changes over time.
These concepts are relevant to my aims because I can use them to see how things have changed and how boys and girls get punished differently due to sexism.
Methodology
My main research method would be Observation.
This method would be appropriate because I can see how pupils behave and if they are deviant I can see how they get punished and their attitudes towards the punishment given.
The problems with this method are the pupils may act differently because I’m there.
Another appropriate method of research would be survey because I can see what the pupils get punished for and how they get punished. They’re all anonymous so hopefully they won’t lie.
This supports my main method of research by proving what they do to get punished and how they get punished because I am being told by the pupils instead of having to watch.
The problems with this method are pupils might lie to act big in front of their friends.
The problems identified could be overcome by asking the pupil to do the questionnaire on their own.
Results
From my research I have found 10 people out of 15 have had a lunchtime detention, 9 people of those 15 have had a letter home, 8 people of those 15 have had a school detention, most people are aged 14 or 15, 12 out of 15 say no to corporal punishment and from my observation study I found out that not many pupils care what punishment they’re given.
Some of my results from my questionnaire and observation study were surprising because 7 people out of 15 thought their punishments were fair, 3 people out of 15 have been excluded, 2/3 of the people have had a lunchtime detention and 3 people said yes to corporal punishment.
Some results were predictable because most people were obviously going to say no to corporal punishment and most people were obviously going to say that their punishment they received wasn’t fair.
These results link to my background material because It shows that punishments have changed since Victorian times and it shows the attitudes have changed towards crime and punishment in schools.
All these results are relevant to my aims because it shows that pupils’ attitudes have changed towards crime and punishment and crime and punishment in schools have changed.
Conclusion
From my results I conclude crime and punishment has changed in schools since the Victorian times. I think this because pupils get away with more nowadays. The evidence to support my conclusion is a pupil who took my questionnaire was truanting from school and they got a phone call home and a letter home and from my background information if a pupil was truanting from school they would get the cane.
I also conclude that the younger pupils think they deserved the punishment whereas the older pupils don’t really care. I think this because the younger pupils haven’t really got a full mind of their own so they still get scared of the teachers so they don’t misbehave whereas the older ones have got a full mind of their own and they don’t care, so they think they can get away with it. The evidence to support my conclusion is the fact that 3 out of the 5 year 9 pupils who took my questionnaire thought they deserved the punishment they were given and one pupil said they thought it was fair ‘because forgetting homework for a teacher isn’t right and I knew the consequence anyway. Out of the year 10 pupils that took my questionnaire they all thought their punishment weren’t fair and they didn’t deserve it. Also in my observation one boy answered back to the teacher therefore was given a break time detention and he weren’t bothered then as soon as the bell rang he ran out of the classroom.
Evaluation
The aim of this enquiry was to find out how much crime and punishment has changed in schools and how much the attitude has changed towards the punishment.
My investigation met my aim by giving me a clear answer to the changes in crime and punishment in schools and their attitudes towards the punishment.
To improve this investigation I could give out my questionnaire to more pupils who I don’t know to avoid receiving stupid answers. I could use a bigger range of age, gender and ethnicity of pupils to gain a more reliable conclusion to my results. I could also do more research into my background information. This might improve my investigation.
Emma Howell
Background information sheet one
Teachers
Children were often scared of their teachers because they were very strict. Children as young as thirteen helped the teacher to control the class. These “pupil teachers” scribbled notes for their lessons in books .They received certificates which helped them qualify as teachers when they were older. In schools before 1850 you might see a single teacher instructing a class of over 100 children with help of pupils called “monitors”. The head teacher quickly taught these monitors, some of them as young as nine, who then tried to teach their schoolmates. Salaries were low, and there were more women teaching than men. The pale, lined faces of older teachers told a story. Some taught only because they were too ill to do other jobs. The poor conditions in schools simply made their health even worse. Sometimes, teachers were attacked by angry parents. They shouted that their children should be at work earning money, not wasting time at school. Teachers in rough areas had to learn to box!
Cane
Teachers handed out regular canings. Look inside the “punishment book” that every school kept, and you will see many reasons for these beatings: rude conduct, leaving the playground without permission, sulkiness, answering back, missing Sunday prayers, throwing ink pellets and being late. Boys were caned across their bottoms and girls across their hands or bare legs. Some teachers broke canes with their fury, and kept birch rods in jars of water to make them suppler. Victims had to choose which cane they wished to be beaten with!
Dunce's Cap
Punishment did not end with caning. Students had to stand on a stool at the back of the class, wearing an arm band with DUNCE written on it. The teacher then took a tall, cone-shaped hat decorated with a large “D”, and placed it on the boys head. Today we know that some children learn more slowly than others. Victorian teachers believed that all children could learn at the same speed, and if some fell behind then they should be punished for not trying hard enough.