A pair of Washington lawmakers is pushing for a ban on corporal punishment in the nation’s schools, citing a disproportionately high use of the practice among minorities and students with disabilities.
Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., and Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., want an upcoming education reform bill to put an end to paddling. They say the practice leaves emotional scars and sends the wrong message by essentially teaching students to resort to violence to resolve problems. What’s more, the lawmakers point to statistics showing that physical discipline in schools is more commonly used with students from minority populations and those with disabilities.
While corporal punishment was abandoned long ago in many areas of the country, it persists largely in the South. In 2006, more than 223,000 kids were paddled at school, federal government statistics indicate. And the practice still garners support among some educators and members of the public who say that it can be an effective way to root out bad behavior, reports ABC News. To read more click here.
Thank you to Reps. McCarthy and Scott for introducing this to the education reform bill. I used to live in Alabama (within the last 20 years), and I routinely heard about classmates who were paddled. Also, at school assemblies, you could always see the principal with his/her paddle. No student was ever paddled at an assembly (only in the principal’s office), but I was shocked that the principal would carry the paddle with him/her to threaten students. It makes me sick that corporal punishment is still legal in schools. It is largely outlawed within the home, so why is it legal at school?
When I was in gradeschool in the 1960s paddling was considered a “fine old tradition” and teachers were encouraged to use it liberally. Hardly a day went by that some poor kid wasn’t taken out to the hall and beaten. Back then we had a Vice Principal, a big Neaderthal of a man – over six feet tall and muscled – and the worst offenders were send to him for “cracks.” He had several paddles hanging on the wall in his office ranging in size and thickness; one of them had holes drilled in a grid pattern.
When he paddled the boys, he’d take a giant swing back and hit them so hard they’d be lifted up off their feet. You could hear the loud “whack!” all over the school.
Even as a kid I knew it wasn’t right. I remember sitting in class listening to that monster of a man hitting one of my friends for the crime of talking while the teacher was lecturing and all I could think of was how much I detested him and that school for allowing that to happen. I was so angry and as a nine year old I had this thought: “if he ever does that to me I will find a way to kill him.”