Comments on Corporal Punishment in Schools

Go to Betsy's Snarky OpinionsAdd a commentGo to Corporal Punishment in Schools

Just look at the statistics.......
Were children better behaved under the rule of corporal punishment or now, in our touchy-feely school systems

posted by Corbin_Dallas on February 22, 2009 at 5:23 PM | link to this | reply

BL
There ain't no paddlin' goin' on in Ontario schools, and I would be opposed to it if it were. But we now have a situation where even parents can be charged for spanking their children, which is asinine...

posted by Nautikos on February 21, 2009 at 8:01 PM | link to this | reply

  I would be appalled and outraged if anyone ever hit my child. I think of the line from "Little Women" where the mother is writing the letter to the teacher and she says, "When you hit a child, you are teaching him how to hit."

posted by RASSE on February 21, 2009 at 2:27 PM | link to this | reply

No question. No paddling!

posted by Greenfields on February 20, 2009 at 5:56 PM | link to this | reply

I'm not for corporal punishment anytime anywhere.  I think that there must be a better way of discipline.

posted by TAPS. on February 20, 2009 at 10:39 AM | link to this | reply

isn't this setting us back a couple of generations?

hitting your own child should be avoided whenever possible...hitting someone else's..out of bounds..forgive the sports pun

Marc

 

posted by NWMWG on February 19, 2009 at 8:51 PM | link to this | reply

BetsyLewis
Too many view it as child abuse. I disagree. Just like drinking a beer is considered use, and drinking a case in one sitting is considered abuse, one swat for a foul deed is okay by me. Get the thick paddle with holes drilled in it!!

posted by TIMMYTALES on February 19, 2009 at 6:56 PM | link to this | reply

Re:
Actually, it's legal in several states. I'll get more info out here soon.

posted by BetsyLewis on February 19, 2009 at 6:50 PM | link to this | reply

I am not aware of corporal punishment being legal in any school in the United States anymore. Can private schools do it? They would at least have to get the parents' permission, I would think. I can't imagine any public schools in the U.S. allow it (although it may happen in violation of policy).

I am not sure what I think of corporal punishment in general. I definitely do not agree with making it illegal in the home, as some countries have done. But I see real downsides. Something about deliberately inflicting pain on a weaker person seems wrong. And we may be teaching them that hitting is a way to solve problems.

That said, I would like to see stricter discipline short of corporal punishment. Disrespect for adults should not be tolerated. (And every day I see that it is.) But I think we can express this commitment nonviolently.

posted by Dyl_Pickle on February 19, 2009 at 4:46 PM | link to this | reply

Corporal punishment

      I think that violence against another, is only justifiable as self defense against an attacker. If one starts down that road, it is the "slippery slope," with a tailwind. After slapping a hand, the face is logically next. Then a punch. Then a weapon. In order to be effective, infliction of pain will inevitably have to escalate. When is this tactic ever going to reach it's logical end? After a hand is cut off? A foot? Will it become necessary to shoot a disruptive student, in order to restore discipline in the classroom? This is coersive rule by instilling fear! People just aren't for hitting! I doubt that I could live up to my own standards, if I were to ever be put in charge of a classroom of students, it takes a special kind of person to be a teacher, and I am not up to such a challenge.

     A friend, once told a local school administrator that he and he alone, would be his children's disciplinary authority, and warned the man that under NO circumstances should his children be spanked, slapped, etc., or he would come back and make whoever inflicted pain on his kids regret having done so. When his warning was ignored, Charlie went to the school and personally showed this administrator what corporal punishment felt like. The idiot found out personally what it is like to feel helpless over being beaten by someone bigger and angrier than the authority figure, in SPADES! Charlie spent a couple of days in jail, but nobody ever messed with HIS kids again! The administrator transferred to another school, to assure that he and Charlie NEVER, EVER met again! Charlie never regretted teaching the teachers or being locked up for it.

      I guess that infliction of pain and punishment in our schools, DOES have it's place, but not the way it was intended to be educational!

          Guy

posted by northsage_45 on February 19, 2009 at 6:19 AM | link to this | reply

Re: BetsyLewis
I think you hit the nail on the head with the statement that corporal punishment in schools is a complex issue. I think any punishment in schools is a complext issue.

posted by BetsyLewis on February 19, 2009 at 3:24 AM | link to this | reply

As a fromer educator I strongly oppose it! There are more effective ways to discipline students than with striking them! NO! for me all day long! sam

posted by sam444 on February 19, 2009 at 1:56 AM | link to this | reply

Punishment in schools used to be a way of trammeling the dark side ...so the soul could blossom.I have experienced this. Societal laws are about trammeling the dark side...don't steal or kill! Now how can one take the TEACHERS prerogatives away without compromising the end result?

posted by Soul_Builder101 on February 18, 2009 at 10:10 PM | link to this | reply

I simply cannot agree with corporal punishment; I taught junior and secondary school for 20 years, and never had to use it. I think it's sad if we cannot discipline children without resorting to physical measures. Moreover, I have seen from experience that after a while, it "numbs" children, and doesn't achieve anything positive. And it's sad too for parents who do not believe in it, yet know that their children are being subjected to it at school. There have been stray cases that I know of, where children have suffered irreparable damage (like a burst eardrum), apart from mental truama. Let's teach and discipline with kindness. Sorry for the long comment, but I feel rather strongly on this subject! Nita.

posted by Nita09 on February 18, 2009 at 9:44 PM | link to this | reply

seeing the way things are going today, i would not tolerate anyone laying a finger on my child. do i personally spare the rod, though? no. and as it is quite a rare occurance in my home, i find it quite effective. but i repeat, even if sparingly, only i keep that prerogative.

posted by bythewindowsill on February 18, 2009 at 8:47 PM | link to this | reply

whacks...
Were given when I was in school.  Some (I think mostly me) feared them and toed the line.  Others just took it and did what they wanted to anyway.  There is no magic bullet and that is sad.  In the context of the times, it worked, somewhat.  Were it to be brought back today it would only make the ACLU rich.

posted by food4thought on February 18, 2009 at 8:21 PM | link to this | reply

BetsyLewis
I grew up and still live in Memphis, Tennessee. Also let me add I was raised in a household of educators. My mother taught English and history before moving on to the IRS, two of my aunts were librarians (one in grade school, the other high), and another aunt taught English as well. All of them worked in predominantly black/inner city schools. They handled most disciplinary problems on their own rarely, if ever, resorting to corporal punishment. They used their voices to maintain control, both with tone and words. Also, I realize corporal punishment in schools is a complex issue, far too complex for a blog or a comment. My response was simple, maybe overly simple. While I don't have a problem with spanking, I don't think for a second it should be the alpha and omega of disciplinary action.  

posted by Talion_ on February 18, 2009 at 7:08 PM | link to this | reply

Re: BetsyLewis
Interesting response and one that came up in the article I read. Though I understand your thoughts, I don't agree with it. What state did you grow up in?

posted by BetsyLewis on February 18, 2009 at 6:40 PM | link to this | reply

BetsyLewis
There was still corporal punishment in schools when I was a student so I don't have a problem with it. It's an immediate punishment to misbehavior, a few whacks, go back to class, sit down (tenderly) and open a book. One thing we have to keep in mind is when a student acts up, everything stops. The teacher isn't teaching and even the well-behaved students suffer.

posted by Talion_ on February 18, 2009 at 5:36 PM | link to this | reply