There is a perception, in some quarters, that authority has to be shown with a heavy hand, that the qualification for someone to impose order is the ability to 'do smaddy suppen'.

A story in this newspaper on Friday, about an assault on a male teacher at a prominent all-boys Kingston high school, showed this clearly. It was reported that after an incident in which a sleeping student was accidentally disturbed, the 'offending' teacher who was reorienting the classroom, was soundly thrashed.

But it is what a third-former told THE STAR, which was instructive in the new ways of authority and order. He said: "Di teacha a big man and him mek some likkle third-former beat him up... . Him too soft man, him cyaa gimmi nuh chat again."

And, indeed, in the hyper-macho world of a boys' school, in the already macho Jamaican society, where 'man no tek dis', he cannot.

This, of course, leaves us to conclude that if a male teacher gets into a physical altercation with a student he had better win. It is much better, it would appear, to whip a boy in a tussle than to lose respect.

It is unfortunate but it speaks to the way we, as a nation, view authority and order and can also be applied to the wider society. The respected 'front-line' police officer is the feared one, the one who can and is very willing to use force. But, while these lawmen are needed to tackle the hardened, heavily-armed career criminals, we constantly see allegations that the same forceful approach is taken towards innocent people with disastrous results.