Are there any schools (public or private) left in the US that still use corporal punishment on their students? I graduated in 2003 while my school district sent “opt-out” forms to parents every year, but it was never actually being used on anyone. It was even in our student handbook that under PA law the principal or his designee could administer it unless parents opted out so corporal punishment only existed in theory. I can’t imagine any teacher or principal willing to spank a student in today’s legal climate.
I graduated from a private school in 1996 which used corporal punishment. As far as I know, they still do.
I student taught at a public high school in rural northern Alabama in 2002 where corporal punishment was used.
About four years ago I was working in North Carolina and heard that some public school systems allowed teachers to use corporal punishment. In fact, one of the customers had foster children I heard that the teachers could hit them, but he could not.
It’s still here, to a certain extent. I graduated in '99 and we generally had a choice of detention or “taking licks” and going back to class. When given a choice, we always took licks.
It’s still in the JISD Student Code of Conduct as of this year. No special ed kids can get licks (elective or otherwise) and there are some terms. The person giving the licks must be of the same sex as the student, there must be a witness (employee of the district) present, it must be done out of sight of other students, and they can’t administer more than X amount (I think 5) of licks.
Well that’s no fun.
…
what?
-FrL-
What’s the point of giving the student a choice like this? What lesson is it supposed to teach?
-FrL-
Damned if you do; damned if you don’t?
It’s more designed to save face for the parents. As of 5 yrs ago, when I had jr high age kids, ‘opt out’ forms were available to parents who were against corporal punishment. Most of the kids I knew (same age as my kids) would have rather taken their licks and gone back to class; it was the parents who disagreed with it.
I grew up not that far from BlakeTyner but on the Louisiana side of the border and we had the same system. Anyone with any sense always chooses the licks because they are preferable over other punishments from almost every angle. The choice is given because if someone wants to really puss out, they can but it will be something worse like a day of detention for every lick offered. Oddly enough, the alternate punishments are just like the standard ones in places that don’t have corporal punishment so experiencing the system first-hand can make you question which one is more cruel.
When I went to high school (Cedar Hill High School Class of '02), parents had the option to opt-in for corporal punishment when the kids registered for classes, but with the expected list of conditions (witness present, same-sex punisher, out of sight of student body, and the targeted area had to be properly clothed).
As far as I know, it just never came up. Even if the parents opted in for it, the system was set up where the kid pretty much was defaulted to detention or whatever without any human interaction in the process beyond being told that you had detention and saying hello to the teacher who was in charge of detention that day.
That was a lot different than in my school.
We didn’t have any mentally handicapped students, but we did have a couple who had behavioral issues stemming from mental problems. They were not immune from paddling. Actually, they were paddled more than the rest of us because, due to their problems, they “acted up” more than usual.
The principal (female) was the one who always administered the paddlings, for both boys and girls.
There was no rule for requiring a witness, but the parents could be present if they chose.
It was done out of sight of other students but certainly not out oe earshot. (The walls didn’t go all the way up to the ceiling and it was a big building which echoed and amplified sound. If someone on the other side of the room dropped a pencil, you’d hear it.) we were used to the sounds of wood smacking on flesh and the accompanying howls of the one being struck.
I don’t know if there were any restrictions on how many blows a child could recieve. My memory isn’t to be trusted because it seemed like the paddligns went on forever some times. I was never paddled myself so I can’t say.
I should add that I don’t know anyone who was offered the choice between more mainstream punishment and corporal punishment that ever took the more mainstream punishment whether it was suspension, detention, work detail etc. That wouldn’t make sense because corporal punishment didn’t ever hurt that much and it was over within minutes. I got paddled about 7 times through junior high and high school and it was fast and quick and got the point across. We all knew that a suspension or after school detention would cost much more in terms of time and getting parents involved. The only time I ever saw anyone truly experience pain was when football players did something really bad and got sent to the football coach for paddling.
There is no corporal punishment in Canada as far as I know. I’ve been teaching for 20 years. I’m shocked by the responses in this thread. I assumed the practice died in the 70’s.
Those from the outside often express that sentiment. I suppose it comes from some philosophical viewpoint that I can’t endorse after experiencing many different modes of punishment. Corporal punishment was always the best by far. I wish that corporations could incorporate that in lieu of other things.
My project manager just instituted a mandatory 8am meeting every day because several of us (sort of me too but not really) didn’t update our project plans on a regular basis. I would gladly trade that for a lick or two.
My mind is the most important thing to me. The body is peripheral and secondary. Corporal punishment was always inconsequential and fluff to both me and every one I grew up with. The things that really scarred me was emotional abuse by a graduate advisor much later and then some rather petty punishments that I couldn’t control in the corporate world. I would gladly trade all those in for something else. I never understood why the body itself is considered so sacred when the other alternatives can do so much harm.
For corporal punishment to be as effective or more effective than dentention/suspension it needs to actually be worse than them. If students don’t really mind getting spanked what’s the point? Should we either abolish CP alltogether or make it more unpleasant (ie painfull/humiliating) than dentention? (hmmm perhaps a GD or IMHO threas is in order).
I think they still do it at Piney Woods. Saw a news bit about the place several years ago on TV, but it probably has not changed.
It seems they’ve changed their mind.
I went to school in Beckville, almost just down the street, from 86 to 99. I got licks three times throughout my time in school. The first time was in 1st grade for talking in line. Yes, that’s all I did. One other guy and I got paddled in the hallway. There were no witnesses except the other student. It was just outside the classroom though so it wasn’t hard to hear. Things were quite different in the 80’s. I heard that teacher got busted for selling cocaine in the school parking lot. Figures…
The second time was in 6th grade. I don’t remember what it was for, but it was something menial again. I think the principal witnessed that one, but that was pretty much by chance. It just so happened that that teacher was the husband of the teacher from 1st grade. They were hardcore about spanking people.
The third time was in 9th grade. Two other guys and I gave hell to a substitute teacher in Spanish class. We had that one coming. That time it was by the principal in his office. He took us in one-by-one, no witnesses at all. At least it wasn’t in the hallway…
After I graduated, that principal moved to another school and the ag teacher became acting principal. Corporal punishment became pretty common then. There have been two or three principals since then though, and I don’t know where things stand nowadays. I wouldn’t be surprised either way.
Thanks; I should have looked that up before.
I must say, that image on the first page is unsettling.