The usual suspects: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming
“Corporal Punishment,” what a lovely, soft language term to legitimize literally terrorizing children through violence.
Can we pls call it what it is: Child abuse. Violence against children is child abuse and has serious consequences. We should shame and punish people for violence against children.
There were always rumors of those things when I went to school in California in the seventies and eighties, especially how the principal would drill holes in it so he could swing faster, but I never saw one with my own eyes or knew any kids who had endured it.
I raised my daughter in Texas (long story that and I apologize though she didn’t seem to mind). I don’t recall any mention of paddles throughout her school years. I honestly have no idea if they get used anywhere in the state.
The only paddles I ever saw of that ilk at any age were decorative fraternity paddles many, many years after they’d ceased any and all actual use.
I’m curious how often this happens in these states.
Edit: Looked to Texas law on this, and parents have to opt OUT of it in writing each year. So you opt out in first grade, you have to do it again in second grade, etc. I never received such notice.
Edit edit: Jesus Christ:
According to the Department of Education’s Civil Rights Data Collection, of the schools that used corporal punishment in the 2015-16 school year, 130 are in North Texas. The level of corporal punishment in those North Texas schools varied from 0.1% of the student body to 88.6%. All told, more than 2,100 North Texas students were paddled that year.
That’s the most recent data available. Only three of those 130 North Texas schools have explicitly banned the practice since 2016.
Ditto. I went to a public school in a state that allowed corporal punishment. It never happened and was never even threatened as a punishment outside of our 80 year old history teacher who’d joke about it “still being legal.” Even if its technically allowed, the possible shitstorm a school administration could face for it makes a great deterrent (you know, besides basic decency). Things don’t need to be illegal for people not to do them.
ETA: Our student handbook did outline the procedure for corporal punishment though. Some of the steps I remember was that it required the written permission of a parent being given per instance, no cross-gender spankings (i.e. no male teacher-female student), punishment couldn’t be given by the same teacher who wrote for it and it couldn’t happen in the classroom in front of the other kids.
Just send a letter back that says… “I’m not opting out, if you hit my kid, you’re opting in”
Texas here, every year we had a form that was sent home with us that our parents had to sign if they didn’t want it.
I knew one kid who got the paddle. They were given the option to go to in school suspension or get corporal punishment. He chose the later.
Other than that, nobody else ever had corporal punishment, and I never heard of anyone else getting to make that choice.
I wonder if we were in one of the four districts that have banned it. I genuinely never saw that form or even heard a whisper about paddling.
Maybe. I was in a really small town, but it was a good district that was fairly liberal, all things considered. We always used to joke about what would warrant it, since we were all aware it was a possibility. The form could have been a deterrent tactic, I suppose.
When I was in grade school principle had a big black paddle that he would spank kids with. The parents had to be informed and agree to it. A couple of the kinds in my class got it every year.
Guess who’s behavior always got worse after that.
A couple of them eventually got expelled after smashing the principles car up with rocks. They also hit him with a few of them as well.
They call it torture if you do it to prisoners but totally fine for our children!
I know how unpopular my opinion is, but I do believe limited corporal punishment can be effective in child tearing. However, I absolutely do not think a teacher or school official should be administering it.
We can all think of at least five little shits from our early education who absolutely needed an age-appropriate beating to make them into people fit for society
I never beat my children but I did use open hand spanking with my children if they refused other forms of punishment like timeouts, restriction of privileges, etc. always with an explanation beforehand that if they continued they would receive a spanking.
“I never beat my children but I did beat my children”
When I was 12 I started to get bullied… I was very small for.my age… but I happened to know karate… bearing a couple of little shits stoped the abuse… physical pain sometimes can be a good deterrant. Whoever says no has either not been a POS or met one.
“But they are kids”… just like dogs they need training… and some dogs need a newspaper spank… but what do I care you do you… just let people educate their kids whoever they are fit as long as they are not crosing some lines…
In my place it’s illegal but apparently no one cares and that’s how parents and teachers show their “love” towards their child.
Source:
One of those places just doesn’t belong with the others, but often has the same legislation as the others, so birds of a feather I suppose. Get your shit together Colorado.
For far less horrifying reasons I have very recently seen what that can do to someone
Hitting a kid with that thing is one of the most low down things a person could ever even consider doing, second only to the shit that’ll get you murdered in prison.
I’ve always been torn on physical punishment for kids but that turmoil ends when it comes to schools.
There is zero reason anyone besides the parent should even think about doing that.
…Why is the parent allowed to think about it? It’s illegal for parents to hit their children here.
Because there are certain instances where it’s actually required. The problem comes from the fact that people don’t understand the difference between when it’s actually necessary and when they just want to let anger out violently.
Sorry, I disagree. Violence is violence.
How do you teach someone empathy without putting them through what they do to others?
My daughter used to bite people. We tried everything to get her to stop. One day she bit my leg hard. So I yoinked her lil ass up and bit her back.
She never bit anyone again.
I still feel bad about it because I reacted with anger. But the lesson was learned. Permanently.
* for adults
Children hitting each other is perfectly fine everywhere s/
It’s even indirectly encouraged by punishing the victim instead of the assailant.
