Die On Your Feet? Or Live On Your Knees?

Recently Aussie schoolboy Casey Haynes turned the tables after three years of being bullied: he snapped and slammed the bully into the ground. The cellphone clip went viral...
And last week here in NZ, a 15-year-old schoolgirl was savagely attacked, after she told her deputy principal that her attacker had threatened to stab her. Wanganui Girls College student Robin de Jong suffered 24 punches and a head stomping. The vicious beating was captured on cellphone...
With schools hog-tied by mamby-pamby PC "rules of engagement", there's little they can do to halt the escalating tide of school violence. Indeed some schoolkids, harassed by bullying, have even been driven to suicide.
Some folk maintain "Never back down to a bully" (easy to say, when you're not the kid getting beaten up daily), while others criticise the adulation of the Casey Haynes' video.
A possible solution: reinstate corporal punishment in schools. For those who grew up without experiencing this, a quick thumbsketch: corporal punishment was official punishment for misbehaviour. It involved striking the student across the buttocks, legs or hands with a cane or a leather strap. This was often in full view of classmates, for humiliation and as an example. Parents who sent kids to such a school did so with full knowledge and consent of the system. Supporters argue it gives an immediate response to indiscipline and that the student is back in class rather than being suspended. Opponents believe other disciplinary methods are more effective. Some regard it as tantamount to abuse. It was banned in NZ by the Education Amendment Act 1990.
There is no denying school violence is growing alarmingly. The sort of behaviour associated with US schools - assaults on teachers, knife and pistol attacks - is now permeating our schools.
As these attacks grow, so does support for corporal punishment. In March 2010, a Curia Market Research poll asked 1,000 people: "Do you think a school should be able to choose to use corporal punishment, if the Board, Parents and Principal wish to have this as an option for school discipline?" 50% responded yes, 44% said no, and 6% didn’t know. I'm sure support for its return has grown by now.
I was strapped in primary school, and caned in high school for infractions. I was also bullied in high school and told to just "tough it out". I didn't turn into a violent sociopath. I haven't dissected neighbours' cats live. But I do believe in law, rules to obey, lines to be toed - if corporal punishment is the only system that can restore safety and order to our schools, then bring it back.
Kids should return from school each day with knowledge, not bruises! For those who say other methods are more effective, please show me some proof. Right now, I'm nowhere near being convinced...
PS: 29 March 2011 - PM tells schools to take action against bullies.
PS: 01 April 2011 - ...and so it continues...