Should teachers punish pupils?

The public should respect teaching methods as long as they are reasonable and condemn those that are irrational, says an article in Yangtze Evening News. Excerpts:

A teacher of a nursery school in Loudi, Hunan province, bought 50 kilograms of sunflower seeds and forced the pupils in her class to eat them as a punishment for consuming sunflower seeds in class despite being told not to do so. After consuming only a small part of the sunflower seeds, the students apologized for their misconduct and were forgiven by the teacher.

The incident has sparked a public debate, with some people criticizing the teacher for misusing her authority to teach the children a lesson irrespective of how good or bad it is. Given the huge pressure created by the media and public, this time the teacher was almost forced to apologize to the students for her behavior.