Don't mind if I jump in here between @escapefromoz and @corina.

I can see your point as a parent @corina, and as an adult in social situations @escapefromoz. I think we can take greater notice of the root of the behaviour and yes, there can be natural consequences which they will have the opportunity to learn about.

However I do agree with @escapefromoz to some extent. The sad thing is, in an education setting where there are tasks, targets and activities to be done, a misbehaved child in a group becomes a whole different class of crowd control. I have had the "pleasure" of some young ones with diverse parenting backgrounds. Some were special needs too. No doubt the situation I found myself in with limited time, lots to cover and a range of kids was not the best. But what I personally felt was we needed to set some rules of engagement, boundaries and expactations - and when these aren't met - the consequences are timeouts. Sure - it doesn't resolve the root - but I feel the time to address that should be separate - and it should ideally involve the parent, who can then follow up on the behavioural pattern at home.

If all parents took the time at home to help children figure out how to regulate their emotions and behaviour, half the battle would already be won at school. Sadly, what I personally see here in Kuala Lumpur is a city of exhausted working parents who have very little emotional energy left to parent. Even in my best efforts to create an engaging learning environment - I am constantly having to redirect so much of my time and energy into crowd control, by the end of which sometimes i even lose track of my sentence at mid point. :) LOL

I guess what my personal feel is - there is unfortunately a lot of room created for punishment as the most effective learning experience given a time sensitive action, response or preventive act - for various reasons. I'm not FOR punishment, but I don't think we should altogether view it as a failure as a parent, educator or social interactor. It is a form of learning at the end of the day. Some lessons are kind, some not so much and just as soon as they can interact with the world - the better it is for them to realise there are many types of consequences - not just punishment, but a variety of learning opportunities.