As a child I attended a military high school for a few years and before that a boarding school run by Ursuline nuns, at the time considered the most strikt or teachers. I have to say the nuns were in the most part scary, although there were one or two who were lovely. There were a lot of things that I found wrong with the boarding school, but I must admit I did get a good education there and still have, along with many bad memories, some very good ones. The military high school was an American one and partly staffed by ex-soldiers. Disciplin was high on the agenda as far as the education side of things and manners / behaviour were concerned. But the school also had an amazing social life, which was admittedly very American and a bit over the top. Still, the balance was good and the school taught us respect for others and gave us a healthy amount of discipline and a good education. If you didn't behave in an appropriate manner, you had your social activities cut and had to do things like clean out lockers, help out with teaching activities, wash the main hall floor at the busiest time, so when all the other students were around to see you do it, etc. It may sound harsh to some, but we had very little trouble at that school and it was a fun school to be at. So, I am not against using ex-soldiers, as long as they have been retrained and do not use abusive behaviour or tactics to get across to these children. There are many ways of teaching discipline. I don't like the way American boot camps are run, but the mindset or taking responsibility for your actions that is taught is something these children need to learn. So I think this has to be handled with great care, so as not to make these youngsters even harder than they already think they are. I still think though that it was my parents who were my primary teachers and that is often what is lacking today!