Going to a Thai primary school was such an eye-opening experience. It was nothing at all like my fifth grade classes. In Thailand, Hua Fai primary school is mostly open air; the classroom doors all lead out to a common balcony or plaza, and inside the rooms, the far walls are made entirely of open windows. Much like the environment, the people at Hua Fai were also open and inviting.. When we arrived, we were taken to a room where they offered us coffee and breakfast cookies. The principal, speaking some English, seemed very much excited to have us there to teach hobbies to the fifth grade classes. Primary school children in Thailand act pretty much the same as they do in the States. They're constantly laughing, goofing off, and hiding geckos in their desks.
When I initially started this program, I hadn't realized just how proficient some of the students would be in English at their age. Some of these fifth graders were able to communicate quite well with us, and they all picked up pretty fast on what we had to teach them. When we first arrived, the principal made sure to calm down the kids by making an example of one unruly child. He gave him a quick thwap with a ruler, and that was the end of his misbehaving. The principal was, by no means, overly forceful with the child, but the use of corporal punishment in schools is so beyond the scope of my experience that it took me by surprise at first. But, thinking back on the highly respectful Thai culture, the principal's use of force is probably normal. Children are taught to respect their elders at all times, bowing deeper for elders during the wai and never standing at a higher level. They are to speak quietly in their presence and never interrupt. These are common practices of both respect and good manners in Thailand. Therefore, when a child is not showing respect, they will be made to do so.
This is the only use of force toward children that I've seen in Thailand so far. Although we do not exercise corporal punishment in schools in the States, many parents are known to have spanked their children a time or two, to teach them a lesson about their behavior. Here in Thailand, however, I have yet to see anything like that. Parents here tend to treat their children with great care, as though they were made of glass and capable of being broken. I don't see many parents "rough-housing" with children, they generally have a more formal relationship, probably because of the respect required in a relationship with one's elders. Reading articles on parenting styles here, many tend to agree, saying that Thai parents rarely discipline their children, even when they're running rampant through the markets. Those instances could be examples of neglectful parents, but it seems that this is not the case. This style of parenting seems more cultural. Parents here are more lenient to allow the child to learn the important lessons for themselves, in regards to how to act and what kind of behavior ends unfavorably.
