Opposition to paddling grows

[PfcHammer]

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/2628997

Opposition to paddling grows
By PARIS ACHEN
Special to the Chronicle

WHEN JIMMY DUNNE was a math teacher at Houston's Black Middle School in the early 1960s, paddling was the customary way to punish a student's unruly behavior.

"I paddled students, but I started thinking, why am I doing this when I don't do it at home?" said Dunne, now president of People Opposed to Paddling Students, a Houston-area group formed in 1982. "I noticed some teachers were getting a sadistic pleasure out of hitting kids, so I stopped after a couple of years."

Dunne's group and national organizations, such as the U.S. chapter of End Physical Punishment of Children, have been leading a campaign to abolish corporal punishment at schools in the United States.

So far, about 28 states have banned the practice in public schools because of the potential for abuse and lawsuits. Yet Texas continues to lead the nation with nearly 75,000 students paddled in 2000, according to a survey by the Ohio-based Center for Effective Discipline.

[LibLabUK]

1. You're kidding... right?

Kids still suffer corporal punishment in schools in the US?

Wow!

[Art_from_Ark]

4. Well, you know what they say:

"Spare the rod and spoil the future soldier, er, child"

[bluestateguy]

2. Hoo boy

I have no children, but if some teacher hits my kid for anything other than self-defense my retaliation would be swift, sudden and severe.

[Pert_UK]

3. "Paddling the school canoe....You BETTER BELIEVE that's a paddling....

Wow.

Corporal punishment is banned against adults, yet US schools are still "paddling" kids?

In any other circumstance this would be assault, so what the hell is going on here?

I'm not sure what the situation is in the UK now....Until recently some private schools still had caning as punishment, but I think it's been banned now.

There are moves to prevent parents smacking their kids, which I disagree with, but using an implement just seems fucked up.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

5. Kinky S&M Punishism Porn (nt)

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. Banned in UK schools since 1998

(and in state schools since 1986, I think). The ruling from the European Court of Human Rights was actually against a stepfather using a 3 foot cane.
http://www.nospank.net/ukban.htm

But UK law may not yet comply with EU law:
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3014488
"British laws on corporal punishment are still under investigation for possible breaches of human rights, the Government was warned today.

A committee in Strasbourg has been checking whether Britain has complied with a ruling delivered by the European Court of Human Rights nearly six years ago."

[Mithras61]

6. A couple of thoughts from TX...

1) Corporal punishment is allowed in TX with the proviso that the punishment must fit the offense. Spanking, even by parents, was disallowed for a while here, but recently allowed again (about 3 years ago, as I recall)

2) While the schools in my area are allowed to spank, it is reserved to the principal, and used only as a last resort and only with the written consent of the parent.

3) In my experience, children that are spanked learn that hitting is acceptable as a method for resolving disputes. Unfortunately, the other children learn from the ones that are spanked, and on it goes, so even my children who aren't spanked have learned that they can solve some problems by hitting.

4) The biblical context is "spare the rod & spoil the child." This quote is thrown out more than any other single thing when the debate about corporal punishment comes up. I have even pointed out the the person stating this that children who are spanked are more physically violent, had them agree with me that this was so, and continue to support spanking, because their CHURCH supports it!

I honestly don't know what it will take to stop the physical abuse of our children, but so long as the Southern Baptists weild influence, it likely won't happen.

[Skittles]

8. a lot of kids act out at school because of abuse at home

WTF does beating them at school do? People who support corporal punishment have their heads up their asses.

[David__77]

9. No beatings in my state!

I have always lived in California. I was shocked when I found out that in the present day these beatings take place. Worse, it's sexually warping.

[Maddy McCall]

10. Let me tell you my "spanking" story...

In Mississippi, spanking is done in public schools. In my son's public elementary school, all of the teachers keep wooden paddles on their desks. Teachers are supposed to spank only with a witness present--usually another teacher.

When my son started kindergarten at this school, I raised my objection to the school's corporal punishment policy, and was offered (as were all parents) the option to write a letter objecting to policy and providing the school with an alternative discipline plan. I wrote the letter and told the school that if my son's behavior was severe enough that school officials considered hitting him, then they should call me to the school and I would handle his discipline. So, every year since kindergarten, I have sent the same letter in--to the teacher, the principal, and the superintendant, just so I know my and his asses are covered (pun intended).

When he was in second grade--a couple of years ago--he came home and told me that another child had entered my son's bathroom stall and attempted to touch him in a private place. The kid was aggressive and my son pushed him off. A teacher in the room next to the boy's bathroom heard the commotion and came into the bathroom with a paddle in hand--she told the little boy who attempted to touch my son to get back to his classroom, and then she WHIPPED MY SON--IN THE BOY'S BATHROOM, WITH NO WITNESS PRESENT.

As soon as I heard, I went to the school. I asked to speak to the principal--the secretary told me I would have to wait. I barged past the sec and into the principal's office, where I told her what happened and informed her that if that teacher so much as LOOKED at my son again, I would kick that teacher's fucking ass and sue the shit out of the school and the principal. (Yes, even though I am working on my PhD and should exhibit more refined behavior, I will throw down if I have to, and will do it as you said, swiftly and severely, when my kid is involved.) The principal was at a loss for words--I don't think she thought I was capable of such expression--but NO TEACHER has ever paddled my son, since. (Edited to add that they find ways to physically punish children who are on "no spank" orders. For instance, his teacher this past year put hers around his neck and said, "I can't spank you because you would tell your mother and I would get arrested, but I really want to hurt you right now." Let me just say that this is a whole other story, and I handled this problem with the superintendant.)

When I see the bathroom spanking teacher now, who is about 6" tall and 300 lbs--a hulk of a woman, whether I am at Walmart or at the school, I scowl at her. She quickly adjusts her path so as not to cross mine. I haven't lost my anger about this, and am not so sure I could control myself if I were ever closely face to face with her.

So, in a nutshell, beating kids with hunks of wood solves no problems--indeed, it causes more.