Your article, 'To cane or not to cane...', will hopefully start more people thinking about whether to discipline a child by caning him.

I am the principal of a preschool, and to me, caning is a form of abuse. It sends the message that adults are bullies, and that one can resort to violence if the other party fails to understand what you want.

Being a parent does not give one the right to hit one's child. It shows disrespect to the child. Would you hit a colleague if he does not follow instructions or disagree with you?

I believe there are no naughty children, as all types of behaviour are conditioned. No one should be caned, unless they are convicts - and children are not convicts.

Cynthia Lee (Ms)

This article was first published in The Sunday Times on Jan 18, 2009.