How strict a teacher should be?

Strict means different action to different people. It means terrorizing for some while it may mean being firm to others. Main criteria to distinguish would be if one is exercising power and taking it as an ego or wants to help children. It looks so easy when seen from the surface but needs areal soul searching to isolate the two.

If one is certain of his or her judgment based on this criteria, a teacher should be firm - very firm in fact. If being strict means physical punishment and terrorizing children even for the sake of children, it may have little benefit although one can really harm children without even shouting at them. If we agree that there are several truths - each of us should be able to find a middle path which is not as easy as saying yes or no. Shooting at schools are sometimes being linked with the fact that the culprits had bad feelings about schools. Not being strict also should not mean that one is not taking responsibility. Its easier at the outset to be 'loose' and not be responsible with serious consequences in the lives of children as one can imagine.

I have the following two references to start pondering as there is 'no one true answer' to this question. If some one has genuinely asked this question, they know what is the right thing to do even if it may not be an ultimate truth.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/w17261t08x47m448/fulltext.pdf

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=2&hid=112&sid=fc5c9509-50e3-4270-b52a-761cbc010e4c%40sessionmgr103&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=afh&AN=1979937