Actually, Texas has never done away with corporal punishment. A town outside of Fort Hood, Texas has brought back that weapon of choice, the paddle.
It sounds like parents were the driving force behind bringing the paddle back to Temple. Those interviewed said that discipline has never been better. To date, only 1 student has been paddled but word must have gotten around.
According to USA Today:
There are times when maybe a good crack might not be a bad idea,” said Robert Pippin, a custom-home builder whose son graduated from Temple schools.
Parents didn’t want the rod spared at school because many paddle their kids at home and they wanted consistent discipline, said John Hancock, an assistant superintendent with more than 40 years as an educator.
“We’re rural central Texas. We’re very well educated, but still there are those core values. Churches are full on Sundays,” Hancock said. “This is a tool we’d like in the toolbox for responding to discipline issues.”
At least one student seems to see its value as a deterrent. “A lot of kids have tempers,” said Abby Jones, a junior at Temple High School. “Those kids that would be paddled would think of it as a threat . . . and maybe would be better.”
The Post cites the most recent figures available showing that about 225,000 students nationwide were at the receiving end of corporal punishment in 2006. About 25% were Texans.
Besides Texas, corporal punishment is still legal in 19 states, mostly in the South. It’s use is waning (Ohio stopped last year) and Congress may consider a federal ban.
How many parents have said ‘nobody touches my child?’ I would suggest that kids knowing it could happen is a huge deterrent. Knowing that the parents have high expectations for behavior is a big deterrent for disrespectful behavior. Why is congress trying to get in the act? Maybe some of them need a good paddling.
Seriously, should schools have paddling? Should it be limited to a principal or other designated disciplinarian? Should Congress outlaw paddling?
Just a warning, don’t go searching for corporal punishment pictures. I ran in to some very ‘interesting’ websites. Sisterspanksalot.com, redass.org were all out there. I forgot about that. Geeez!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
