School districts back off paddling, The Charlotte Post (12.15.2011)
Published Thursday, December 15, 2011 7:28 am by Herbert L. White
The number of N.C. school districts banning corporal punishment is rising, according to a study by Action for Children North Carolina.
Only 27 of 115 N.C. districts – affecting 188,916 students – allow the practice after 18 halted paddling when lawmakers passed legislation in June requiring districts to allow parents to opt out of corporal punishment. Six of those 18 districts reported hitting students over the last two years.
Corporal punishment, banned in developed countries’ schools, is forbidden in 30 U.S. states. Corporal punishment is against the law in the military, prisons, child-care facilities and foster care.
The new reporting law requires school districts to report annually to the N.C. Department of Public Instruction:
• Number of students hit;
• Number of students with disabilities hit;
• Students’ grade
• Race and ethnicity of students, and
• Reason for administration of corporal punishment
Districts that allow paddling are spread across the state, with a cluster of 15 in western N.C., including Burke, Alexander, Caldwell and McDowell counties. The closest corporal punishment district to Mecklenburg County is Stanly County.
According to the survey, 12 of the corporal punishment districts haven’t used it in recent years. Of the 27 districts that still allow paddling, 16 reported sending the opt-out forms to parents at the start of the academic year.
In 1985, 98 percent of N.C. districts allowed paddling. Mecklenburg County has long banned corporal punishment as research has confirmed hitting students is ineffective discipline and negatively impacts pro-violent attitudes.
DPI data shows districts report 891 cases of corporal punishment during the 2010-11 school year.
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School corporal punishment has actually been prohibited now in 31 states, one more than reported in the article, and in a 32nd, Wyoming, it is legal but hasn’t been used by any district in many years. So, NC is one of just 18 states that have clung to this outmoded and often disriminartory practice. Sad. |
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Posted on December 15, 2011 |
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Corporal Punishment is abusive and should not be tolerated in the public school system. I think it also breaks the 8th Ammendment of the U.S. Constitution, causing cruel and unusual punishment. |
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Posted on December 15, 2011 |
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Why is it ok to use pain as punishment for kids, especially administered by taxpayer funded school officials who are entrusted with our children’s care and education, when the very same action is Illegal in Schools in 31 U.S. States, the U.S. Military and Prohibited by Federal Law for use against convicted Felons, murderers and child molesters, in ALL U.S. Prisons? What would happen to any citizen, parent, police officer or U.S. Supreme Court Justice who hit any person or animal with a wooden paddle in public? What would happen if State Superintendents took a paddle to hit school officials as punishment for infractions? It would be a world media event, rife with lawsuits and imprisonment for assault! Society’s views on pain to punish children under the guise of “discipline” is changing and most folks don’t like to admit that they have hit their kids. Valuable resources for all child caregivers are available such as “Plain Talk About Spanking” at nospank dot net, sparethekids dot com, dontbeatblackkids dot com and donthitstudents dot com Sexual violence against schoolchildren, K-12, is LEGALLY PROTECTED in taxpayer funded public schools in 19 U.S. States that legally allow Pain to Punish Students K-12, Illegal in Schools in 31 U.S.States, over half our nation, constituting “Cruel and Unusual Punishment” akin to allowing State and Local Governments to legally permit Slavery!! Congressman John Kline, Chairman of the House Committee on Education and Workforce has the Power and Responsibility to send H.R. 3027 “The Ending Corporal Punishment in Schools Act” introduced by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-NY, out to the floor for a full vote of Congress, but it DIED again on 12/8/2011, earlier version, H.R. 5628 DIED in House Committee on Education 2010! Mandatory Reporters of suspected child abuse, school teachers, coaches and administrators, legally hit schoolchildren, K-12, with thick wooden paddles, SEXUAL ASSAULT when done to a non-consenting adult, to inflict Pain as Punishment for minor infractions, some states such as Tennessee do not require parental consent or notification for schoolchildren to be “Paddled”. Several “School Paddling States” have “Teacher Immunity Laws” to protect school employees from criminal/civil action, leaving INJURED schoolchildren’s families NO LEGAL REDRESS! U.S. Federal Courts uphold outrageous incidents of school paddling and the U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear school corporal punishment appeals. See 2008 report “A Violent Education” by Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) for disturbing FACTS! See donthitstudents dot com. Over the past 4 years, I have collected hundreds of shocking news reports of legal child abuse in schools where children are injured and parents are powerless to protect them. The practice of school discipline by “Corporal Punishment” is founded upon the RELIGIOUS conviction of “Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child” and FORCED onto taxpayers children in public schools, violating our nation’s constitution regarding liberty, equality and “Cruel and Unusual Punishment”. Please add your voice to federal bill to Abolish School Corporal Punishment of Students in ALL U.S. Schools at dont hit students dot com |