DR. WALLACE: I know you often say good things in your columns about high school athletics. But let's be honest. High school athletics are a waste of time and money, aren't they? Admit it, not everyone is into sports and they cost the school, parents and students a lot of money.

Why are you so caught up in high school athletics and not so much in the arts, for example? — No Sports Fan Here, via email

NO SPORTS FAN HERE: I believe athletics are important in high school for two main reasons. First, the student body can rally together to bring enjoyment, camaraderie and pride to the school and community at large.

Second, the athletes learn discipline, sacrifice, teamwork and sportsmanship. Athletic teams are a boost for the community as attending sporting events and are an excellent way for the community to enjoy bonding events and to cheer for family members and friends who participate on these teams.

I am 100% a booster of high school athletics for both male and female sports of all kinds. Having said that, I am also a huge fan of the arts and music. Not many of my high school friends would believe it, but I am a big fan of opera music. And one the highlights of my life was to spend a full day at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France.

I don't see these two very worthy areas of interest — arts and sports — as mutually exclusive. Both endeavors provide great platforms to elevate human spirits.

IS MY GRANDPAPPY CORRECT?

DR. WALLACE: My grandpappy often likes to say that ill-behaved students have taken over all-American high schools across our nation. He thinks our educational system is on a downward slide and has been for a long time.

Grandpappy says that when he was a high school student, if a boy needed to be disciplined, that boy was sent to the vice principal's office and he knew in advance he was going to be in big trouble. The vice principal had a wooden paddle and would tell the boy to bend over and grab his ankles. The vice principal then proceeded to "lay the wood" to the boy's backside in an attempt to "correct" the bad behavior and to encourage future proper behavior.

In most cases, my grandpappy said the boy didn't go home and tell anyone about being paddled. If he did, then his daddy would give him yet another swat on his rump for getting into trouble at school. Do you agree with my grandpappy that this kind of old-timey punishment would improve today's schools if they returned to the paddle? — Curious Grandson, via email

CURIOUS GRANDSON: Speaking as a former high school basketball coach, teacher and administrator, I agree with your grandfather that many of our schools have a greater challenge in implementing and controlling school discipline than they did back in the days when he was a high school student.

Almost every student in the America of yesteryear feels they've become an authority on why most schools are struggling with disciplining students today. Therefore, the first people they blame are the schoolteachers and the school staff workers.

However, all school employees need to continue educating our children the best they can in today's world. No job is more important to our collective future. But the discipline problems in schools are usually a reflection of these students not being disciplined regularly at home. The parents who won't or can't discipline their children at home expect the schools to teach their students how to behave.

Should the school personnel use corporal punishment (swats on the rump with a wooden paddle) as a way to improve student discipline? My answer is absolutely not! Corporal punishment has been off-limits at public schools for decades, and I'm in full agreement with this policy.

Discipline should focus on attempting to correct future behavior. The correct tools to use are taking away privileges, timeouts, being held after class in a detention period and so forth. Positive reinforcement works for some students, but not for others, so good authority figures first try to reach students in a way that both explains the poor behavior that needs to be corrected and lends clues on how best to improve in the future.

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.

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