Whackademia Quote: Teachers in Australia Are as Powerless as U.S. Educators

Teachers [in Australia] confronted by violent students are banned from "shouting angrily" or pursuing children who try to run away unless they [the students] are in danger or likely to cause harm. A lengthy list of classroom dos and don'ts also prevents teachers from taking students' personal items, including mobile phones, from them except where there are safety concerns. The rules of "good or acceptable practice" in public classrooms require teachers to ask students to hand over their phone if it is disrupting a lesson….As in the state's 2240 government schools, Catholic schools in Sydney do not administer corporal punishment in any form and have a general "hands off kids" rule.

Bruce McDougall and Linda Silmalis, The Telegraph, January 25, 2014