Your headlines in your publication of January 19 filled me with extreme sadness, for I am afraid that the young man is being led up the wrong path. 

Discipline, however petty, is a very good part of growing up; in fact discipline is gold dust, whilst it must not be confused with oppression which is positively evil.

I will deal with discipline alone, for I presume that the young man has not been exposed to penal incarceration, therefore irrelevant in this case. 

Discipline is a skill for both accepting and dispensing, and I will now blow my own trumpet a little to show how well it has served me.

READ MORE HERE: Son removed from school over uniform policy

At home and at school we were exposed to strict discipline and corporal punishment in both places if we transgressed. I was considered to be rather thick but I did leave school with six O Level subjects because of the rough and tumble and discipline. 

I was well prepared for life in general. I went through the Army and its discipline with little trouble: in fact I enjoyed the comradeship, foreign travel and pure adventure. With this came responsibility and confidence. Afterwards, I had a job which entailed both control and discipline of some 23,000 employees. 

I retired after 40 years, and now at 88 I enjoy retirement and still practice self discipline ie. giving up both smoking and alcohol, both in one single step. All this happens to be true. 

We must avoid, at all costs, a generation of scruffy, ill-disciplined snowflakes and I must say I support the school 100 per cent. What a good chance, do not let it slip by just passing it by. 

Good luck to anyone who can manage it, for it is part of your broader education

Thomas Robley,
The Elms,
Michelmersh

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