DR. WALLACE: I'm a former sixth-grade teacher who would like to disagree with your "schools should not administer corporal punishment" philosophy. If teachers were permitted to spank unruly students our student body would be a lot less troublesome.

I've read that you are not in favor of inflicting physical pain on students. I'm not talking about whipping children with iron rods, but a crisp swat on the rump of the unruly student delivered by an administrator with a wooden paddle. Many parochial schools use corporal punishment as an effective method of student discipline. It works. — Former Teacher, Kansas City, Kans.

FORMER TEACHER: Corporal punishment does have many proponents who maintain it creates a more disciplined student body.

As a former high school administrator I was not against corporal punishment, but I didn't want to administer the spanking and I didn't want our teachers to paddle the students either. If the parent of the unruly student would come to school to administer the spanking, I'd consider corporal punishment. Parents should spank their children if necessary, not school personnel!

HE WANTS US TO LIVE TOGETHER

DR. WALLACE: I'm 20 and my steady boyfriend is 21 and we have been going together for more than three years. I think the time has come for us to spend the rest of our lives together. In other words, make plans to get married.

The problem is that Karl doesn't want to get married because he says that almost everyone who gets married eventually gets divorced. Rather than getting married, he wants us to live together. Are there any statistics available on the percentage of marriages that fail? I'd really appreciate knowing them. — ANN, Mobile, Ala.

ANN: Your boyfriend is off on his evaluation of successful marriages. According to The American Council of Life Insurance, 62 percent of all married couples remain married to the same mate!

NO CATNAPS ALLOWED

DR. WALLACE: I have a problem of getting to sleep at night. This may sound funny, but I count sheep every night and I usually count into the thousands before I doze off. After school I'm usually so tired that I have to take a catnap.

My mother thinks I'm lazy, but this is just not the case. What can I do? — Lauren, Boston, Mass.

LAUREN: During the teen years, your body changes rapidly and sometimes throws itself out of sync. One way to get back to normal is to stick to a strict sleeping schedule. Go to bed and get up at the same time each day — no catnaps allowed.

Also, a good sleep-inducer is a warm bath and a glass of warm milk just before bedtime. The warmth is soothing and the milk contains an amino acid that helps bring sleep. Pleasant dreams!

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at rwallace@thegreatestgift.com. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.