Corporal punishment is still legal in US public schools in 19 states

[The Sushi Bandit]

http://phys.org/news/2016-10-corporal-legal-schools-states.html

More than 160,000 children were disciplined using corporal punishment in public schools in the United States in the 2013-2014 school year, according to data recently released by the U.S. Department of Education. School corporal punishment, which typically involves striking a child with a wooden board or paddle, is currently legal in public schools in 19 U.S. states. A new Social Policy Report, published by the Society for Research in Child Development, has found that Black children, boys, and children with disabilities are subjected to corporal punishment with greater frequency than their peers.

[Happyhippychick]

1. Yes it is. 8 years ago it was 23 states, so...progress!

[kcr]

3. Yes. It's good to keep up awareness though, because a lot of people think it's gone.

Especially if they live in an area that abolished it long ago. They're shocked to find out there are still areas in this country that do it. It seems so backwards and from a different time. It really is unbelievable we still do that in the twenty first century, but we'll get there eventually.

[Happyhippychick]

6. Yep, I agree. I was shocked too!

It is incredible that it still exists, both in schools and in homes. But there you go.

[tonyt53]

2. I grew up in rural KY and started to school in the late 50's. They paddled us boys for being boys.

In the first grade (no kindergarten) it was pretty much an everyday thing. Every now and then a girl would get paddled, but that was rare. When it did happen, it was a girl from a poor family. There weren't any black kids at that school. Second grade, fewer paddlings, third grade even less. After that, if a kid got paddled, they usually messed up pretty badly.

We learned there were consequences to for our actions. Nobody got kicked out of school and no cops were ever called to school. During the 70's, parents started demanding an end to school paddling. That expanded into the 80's, then the 90's. Kids learned that there were no consequences for their actions at school. That will, and has followed them into adulthood. No consequences or responsibilities for their actions.

We learned respect for others and that we were responsible for what we did. Even where the school was, religion was not part of our school life. That was the responsibility of out parents. We didn't have a Ten Commandments hanging in the school, but we did say the Pledge of Allegiance every morning. I'd rather have a child punished by paddling when they deserved it than to have them not face any consequences for what they had done. Life will kick ya right between the eyes, and it is far more brutal than a paddling.

[Egnever]

4. So the only way to learn responsibility is to beat it into you?

Going to have to disagree with that.

[gvstn]

8. Thank you!

Might does not make right and hitting people sets a terrible example for everyone no matter their age.
It is disgusting. And I really can't believe it is still legal when two 5 year olds exchanging a peck on the cheek apparently equals sexual assault these days, but hitting is fine and dandy in 19 states.

[kcr]

5. Of course, there's the idea that paddling is part of the reason "life kicks ya in the teeth"

There's no reason to just accept all the teeth kickin' and never do anything about it. That's what progress is about. If it were actually true that paddling is what taught respect and learning responsibility, then areas where it's abolished would see decline. But it's not true. Plus, there's nothing logical about adding teeth kickin' to make teeth kickin' better.

[HughBeaumont]

7. What a bunch of bullshit.

In the first grade, I got pushed out of line at a drinking fountain (yes, you read that right, someone pushed ME, I didn't do the pushing). So because this teacher saw two kids involved in an instance of first graders being first graders, that of course warranted someone who WASN'T my parent to spank my ass five times with a wooden paddle.

I'm . . . failing to understand what that was supposed to teach me. Hating authoritarians and authority figures for life, definitely. A sheer distrust of adults who are supposed to protect and teach children, perhaps. Setting in place a pattern of failing adults and horrible classmates that lasted throughout college, yes.

"Life's hard" isn't any goddamned reason to assault anyone who isn't your kid.

[hunter]

9. Teachers and other school officials in my state get fired for a lot less than that.

When I was a teacher you simply didn't touch kids, no matter how obnoxious they were. There are plenty of other ways to encourage good behavior and discourage bad behavior.

My kids are adults now but I would have had any teacher or school administrator who touched them thrown out onto the streets.

Physical punishment of any sort is BULLSHIT. It doesn't work for kids, it doesn't even work for dogs.

A person taught to accept punishment is going to be messed up in some way, and the person doing the punishment IS messed up in some way.

Every authoritarian asshole I've ever met was taught to accept punishment from an early age.

Mentally healthy people can be tortured, and yes, life can kick them "right between the eyes," but they cannot be punished.

And they only accept authority that is deserving of their respect.

Anyone who hits a kid is undeserving of respect.

[LeftyMom]

11. So half the students learned without being hit, and the application was sexist, classist, and

would assuredly have been racist if your school wasn't segregated.

But you think it was a good thing and it worked.

That's some remarkable logic.

[gvstn]

16. God, and the gym teachers used to accept bullying of us boys that didn't have

Fathers that were into sports to teach us how to win, it was "toughen up nancy-boy". Fuck them and anyone that hits a child. 19 States that allow this is beyond reprehensible--yeah those States are [b"]incorrigible". I'll say it again Fuck Them! My apologies to anyone that hates using/seeing cuss words, but those that hit kids deserve every syllable of it, even if it is only one syllable.

[obamanut2012]

12. If you have to ever hit anyone, especially a child, you have failed

I don't believe assaulting anyone improves behavior, and if you do, you need therapy.

[philosslayer]

13. Do you have any children?

[MattBaggins]

15. Why do you feel that violent assault is needed to

teach children about consequences and respect.

You have a severely warped and disturbed world view.

[ProfessorGAC]

10. If I Were A Teacher. . .

. . .i would ask if the corporal punishment rule applied to the parents at the PT conferences? I'm sure that such encounters would be a million times more beneficial than hitting a kid!!

(I am joking, btw)

[PasadenaTrudy]

14. Which ones?

I was hoping to see a list there.

[Bonx]

17. Map in this article

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/12/corporal-punishment/420420/

[The Sushi Bandit]

18. I got paddled several times in elementary school...

In downey CA in the early 60's. After honest reflection I can say that it did not scar me.

and it never really hurt!

But that was MY experience, not others!