school principal and Progressive Labour Party candidate Dale Butler has stirred up a whirlwind of controversy with his decision to publicly strap three of his students.

Corporal punishment remains in the Education Act's code of conduct and has always been viewed as a last resort when all other disciplinary avenues have been exhausted.

Mr. Butler has defended his actions on that basis; he said all disciplinary avenues had been exhausted with regard to these children who were caught stealing. And he said his actions had avoided the necessity of the children going to court.

His decision was backed by outgoing Education Minister Jerome Dill and has received some public support as well.

But it has also sparked outrage and a rap on the knuckles for Mr. Butler from Chief Education Officer Joseph Christopher, who described the public beating as "mediaeval''.

There seem to be two issues involved: the first is corporal punishment itself; the second, Mr. Butler's decision to turn a disciplinary action into a public spectacle.

To deal with the second first, it is hard not to agree with Dr. Christopher.

The age of public humiliation is over and Mr. Butler's action was akin to placing people in the stocks or public hangings; actions which most people today see as barbaric and unnecessary.

Discipline -- whether it is physical or otherwise -- is best administered in private. Public humiliation will often have more ill effects on an individual than the public example being made of him or her or the message being sent to the assembled public who may also, perversely, see the whole episode as entertainment.

Corporal punishment itself is a thornier issue. It can be argued that physical discipline -- or the threat of it -- can frighten an individual into better behaviour and there are many who claim that this was the case and cite themselves as examples of its efficacy.

It is difficult to know if this is in fact true -- it's hard to say whether a naughty child went on the straight and narrow as a result of experiencing a beating or if the child would have started behaving better anyway as maturity set in.

But in the case of the truly incorrigible, a beating will have little effect, and repeated beatings will do less and less -- simply becoming another punishment.

There does seem to be some evidence that victims of violence are more likely to be violent themselves and it could be argued that children who are taught that the use of force is a reasonable solution to a disciplinary problem or any kind of obstacle will be more prone to do the same to overcome their own difficulties.

Mr. Butler acted within his powers when he decided to strap the three students, but he must ask himself what lesson he taught the rest of his pupils -- that stealing is wrong, or that violence is acceptable.

Mr. Butler also needs to explain his apparent change in heart. Some years ago, he was publicly quoted as supporting the removal of corporal punishment from the code of conduct, whereas now, by his actions, he is its most well known proponent.

Everyone is entitled to change their minds, but Mr. Butler, as a principal and as a political candidate for party which has opposed corporal punishment, needs to explain his own conversion.