The primary school principal who dished out a beating to three students found guilty of stealing has been condemned by the head of a civil rights group.

Northland's Primary School head Dale Butler strapped the three boys in front of the whole school during an assembly last week.

But Sheelagh Cooper, chairwoman of the Coalition for the Protection of Children, has described the disciplinary action as "draconian''.

And she also pointed out that Mr. Butler sat on a committee in the mid 80s which called for the banning of corporal punishment in schools.

Yesterday Mrs. Cooper said: "Whatever gives anyone the idea that public humiliation coupled with deliberately inflicted physical pain will improve the capacity of these young people to be more considerate, respectful and understanding of others? "Our prisons are full of men whose histories are replete with some of the most extreme forms of physical punishment. If corporal punishment was effective these men would be model citizens and those of us who were shaped by love, positive rewards and good examples would be incarcerated instead. It sends a message to children that it is okay for someone bigger and stronger to use physical pain or the threat of physical pain to extract compliance.

"It is probably an overstatement to suggest that the occasional spanking will do irreparable harm to the emotional well-being of a child -- the real damage that is being done by those who use spanking as a last resort is the message that endorses the use of violence as a means to resolve conflict.

"With very few exceptions the children who find themselves the victims of corporal punishment at school have usually been provided with liberal doses of the same at home. It didn't work there and it won't work in the schools.

"Is it any wonder that we have increasing problems commanding the respect of young people when we have such a blatant contradiction in front of them? "People often cite the biblical reference which says `spare the rod and spoil the child'. When this is used to justify the use of corporal punishment it reflects a complete misinterpretation of the message contained in that statement. The rod referred to is not a stick but a shepherd's rod which is used to guide wayward sheep or rescue lost ones. The use of the rod therefore refers to guidance, protection and discipline -- which means to teach or lead.

Mrs. Cooper also revealed that Mr. Butler had promoted the banning of corporal punishment back in the mid 1980s.

In a newspaper article in October 1986 Mr. Butler, who was a member of a committee that drafted a new code of discipline calling for the banning of the cane, was quoted as saying: "If we have some in-service training on discipline in the next three years we should be able to remove corporal punishment by 1990.

"I am against it even though it has worked in this school.'' Last night Mr. Butler could not be contacted to defend himself against the Coalition's criticism.

But at the time of the incident last week he described the beatings as the ultimate punishment and added that "we have no reservations about using our most severe penalty''.

"We had used up all of our disciplinary resources -- there was only one left and we were not afraid to use it,'' he said.

"This has always been a well disciplined school -- it is also a loving school.''