September 30, 2006
WELL, I SURE AS HECK SUPPORT SMACKING YOURS...:
In Many Public Schools, the Paddle Is No Relic (RICK LYMAN, 9/30/06, NY Times)
Over most of the country and in all but a few major metropolitan areas, corporal punishment has been on a gradual but steady decline since the 1970’s, and 28 states have banned it. But the practice remains alive, particularly in rural parts of the South and the lower Midwest, where it is not only legal, but also widely practiced.In a handful of districts, like the one here in Everman, there have been recent moves to reinstate it, some successful, more not. In Delaware, a bill to rescind that state’s ban on paddling never got through the legislature. But in Pike County, Ohio, corporal punishment was reinstated last year. And in southeast Mississippi, the Laurel school board voted in August to reinstate a corporal punishment policy, passing one that bars men from paddling women, but does not require parental consent, as many other policies do.
The most recent federal statistics show that during the 2002-3 school year, more than 300,000 American schoolchildren were disciplined with corporal punishment, usually one or more blows with a thick wooden paddle. Sometimes holes were cut in the paddle to make the beating more painful. Of those students, 70 percent were in five Southern states: Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama and Arkansas.
Often the battle over corporal punishment is being fought on the edges of Southern cities, where suburban growth pushes newcomers from across the country into rural and religiously conservative communities. In these areas, educators say, corporal punishment is far more accepted, resulting in clashing attitudes about child-rearing and using the rod.
Punishing children by smacking wins widespread adult approval (Sarah Womack, 20/09/2006, Daily Telegraph)
The majority of parents believes smacking is an acceptable way to discipline children, according to the latest research, which also uncovers widespread confusion about the law.The number of those in favour of smacking was higher among adults without children, 80 per cent of whom said they would support smacking as a punishment if necessary.
The number of those in favour of smacking was higher among adults without childrenAmong parents, the proportion who said they smacked their children fell, but only to 67 per cent. [...]
Parents aged 35-54 were most likely to have smacked their children, with nearly three-quarters – 74 per cent – saying they had done so, said the research. The vast majority of adults opposed moves for an outright ban.
We favor corporal punishment for adults as well. Posted by Orrin Judd at September 30, 2006 10:53 AM
"There's not a man in America who at one time or another hasn't had a secret desire to boot a child in the ass."
Posted by: W.C.Fields at September 30, 2006 12:42 PMPaging erp!!!
Posted by: Rick T. at September 30, 2006 1:42 PMI can definitely assure you that if I had Mr. Price at my school with the "Board of Education" in his hand ready for usage, I'd behave rather quickly too.
He really needs to demonstrate authority by using it on his teachers.
Here in the UK we abolished corporal punishment in our schools some years ago. The results have been terrible and many people want it brought back.
I have put Mr Price's picture on my blog twice!
Posted by: David Langley at September 30, 2006 2:30 PMPaddle the union reps to your heart's content. In fact, let's field test our new torture incentives on them. Water boarding! Yes, I'd like to see it on YouTube.
But leave the kids out of it. They've already been punished plenty by being forced to attend the public schools where their hearts and minds have been ill-served by those who now wish to harm their bodies.
Posted by: erp at September 30, 2006 2:31 PM“And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul:” If you are willing to subject your children to the soul destroying public school system; why quibble over minor physical abuse?
Posted by: TGN at September 30, 2006 4:58 PMIn the 4th Grade I was paddled in school for something I hadn't done. My accuser was the class bully who found it amusing to get me, the new kid in school, in trouble. My hatred of arbitrary authority has grown from that event. If my kid has done something wrong, tell me and I'll punish him. I don't need some sadist masquerading as a disciplinarian touching him.
Posted by: Pete at October 1, 2006 12:18 AMIt was never my fault either....
Posted by: oj at October 1, 2006 9:08 AMTGN - I'm not willing, but it's an uphill struggle trying to convince others that the public schools are by far the most dangerous thing in our society -- far more dangerous than Islamic fundamentalism or even a President Rodham.
Posted by: erp at October 1, 2006 11:03 AMI don't know if I'm proud of this or not, but...
I was a prefect at my boarding school and for some reason the most rambunctious students were given to my buddy and I. Forseeing trouble and a long year, we took the baddest and most maniacal of our charges aside and beat the crap out of him, we also told him that any problems we had with the others was his problem. We had two incidents the first week and not a single one after that. I still shudder at the brutal eficiency with which that evil SOB kept order.
Posted by: pepys at October 1, 2006 12:30 PMpep, that's called "peer counseling" now.
Posted by: erp at October 1, 2006 1:33 PMPete,
I think that one of the reasons this is coming back is that while you might uphold your part of the bargain to handle the problem, all too many parents are not upholding theirs and the teachers and the school administration is the one holding the bag. If parents would realize that their little angel isn't and did something about it, then this would probably not be on the upswing.
I still remember when the president of the school board, who had a kid in my class, brought his son to school and made the rounds of all his teachers. He told them bluntly that if his son misbehaved, he wanted to be told right away and he would take steps to correct the problem that night. They did, he did and the problem went away. Too bad so many of the parents today don't do the same.
Posted by: dick at October 1, 2006 8:12 PM