There’s a big debate in England at the moment on the use of corporal punishment in schools - see http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/england/newsid_1987000/1987642.stm
I know this is still prevalent in the far east, and in some parts of the USA. I thought it was worth asking the Dopers just how common it is still, and whether an outright ban is justified.
So, over to you?
Corporal punishment in schools is (at least on paper) nonexistant in the USA. I’m fairly certain its illegal across the board, and it’s certainly not legal in public schools. Even back in the 40s and 50s, when it was still apparently legal, I’ve heard that it wasn’t common at all. My grandfather, though, has referred to it a number of times, so I gather it was fairly common at schools in his time.
It actually surprises me that it’s still quasi-legal in any Western countries. I hadn’t heard much about it for years, myself.
Corporal punishment in schools is (at least on paper) nonexistant in the USA. I’m fairly certain its illegal across the board, and it’s certainly not legal in public schools. Even back in the 40s and 50s, when it was still apparently legal, I’ve heard that it wasn’t common at all. My grandfather, though, has referred to it a number of times, so I gather it was fairly common at schools in his time.
It actually surprises me that it’s still quasi-legal in any Western countries. I hadn’t heard much about it for years, myself.
The 40’s and 50’s?
Back in the 60’s, I can recall getting hit in the head with a book, had a clump of hair pulled out of my head, had my sweater near ripped off my body, and I was choked once until I passed out. I’ve seen teenage boys spanked with a canoe paddle, and I saw one kid punched in the eye. All these were done by either teachers or an assistant principal.
It’s a good thing for the teachers that corporal punishment doesn’t take place anymore. Nobody may lay hands on my son.
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Sweet!! A double double-post!!
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When I was in elementary and junior high school around 1980, “swats” were commonplace. Once the principal of our elementary school actually punched a kid in the shoulder, hard. I got a swat once for not wearing my safety goggles in wood shop. This was in small-town Ohio.
That’s what I always thought, until a friend of mine went to teach in North Carolina. She teaches in a public school, and according to her, paddling is permitted. She tells stories of one or two teachers who paddle students specifically because it upsets her. I was shocked becuase I was under the impression that corporal punishment in public schools was nonexistant.
I had an English teacher of mine bring a student outside to the hallway and throw him against the lockers, hard. I don’t know if that’s what happened, but we all heard something hit the lockers, and that’s what the student said. And this was only four or five years ago.
When I was in elementary school in the 70’s and 80’s, the faculty had two rectangular wooden paddles at their disposal. At the beginning of the year, the parents had to sign a form either giving or refusing permission to the school to use corporal punishment to their child.
In all my years there, no one ever got spanked. If most of a class was acting up, the teacher might casually leave the room and return bearing one of the paddles. That alone was enough to make the room behave. I well remember the wave of fear that would wash over us when that happened. The teacher might as well have come back with a gun and said, “If you don’t behave, I’m going to start executing you one by one behind the building.” 
One of the paddles had large quantities of tape wrapped around it - as if it had been broken in two during some unfortunate student’s punishment long ago.
I don’t think that school uses the paddles anymore though.
I think spanking is best left to the parents - even though there are some parents who are unwilling or unable to discipline (and I’m talking about more than just spanking here) their kid.
I know I’d have a hard time spanking someone else’s kid. I imagine I’ll have a hard time spanking my own.
I had an English teacher of mine bring a student outside to the hallway and throw him against the lockers, hard. I don’t know if that’s what happened, but we all heard something hit the lockers, and that’s what the student said. And this was only four or five years ago.
Lockz: yeah, but that’s not really corporal punishment. That’s a teacher assaulting a kid, and they’d likely be fired if the heat came down on 'em.
I go to school in Apex, North Carolina. A teacher who laid hands on a student would get his or herself fired.
That said, each county has different rules, if I remember correctly. It’s entirely possible that some counties still allow this sort of thing.
Kids got paddled in my elementary school everyday (late 80’s). I even got spanked once in the first grade for lingering at the sink too long. The same teacher also used to duct tape students in their desks if the student couldn’t stay on his/her own. We had a fire drill one time, and we had to carry a girl out, desk and all.
Corporal punishment is pretty taboo now, but don’t think the thought has never crossed my mind to take a student or two over my knee 
The most I ever do, however, is to flip the kid on his ear when he falls asleep or otherwise annoys me, but I only do it to kids who I know won’t get all worked up about it.
Well here in Tennessee is is not only legal, but used frequently in many of our schools. Parents can sign a form at the beginning of the year saying they do not consent to corporal punishment being used on their children, but otherwise, it can be and is used.
It should be illegal. Teaching children that certain behavior deserves physical punishment is not exactly a lesson that serves our society well.
Calliope, I was wondering what in the world everyone was talking about! Corporal punishment illegal??? HUH???
I work in Memphis City Schools and I see corporal punishment all the time!
Before I homeschooled, I had to sign a form every year to ensure that my daughter was not a victim of corporal punishment. I say victim because I’ve seen too many children physically punished just for being kids.
I have never seen a good reason to physically punish a student, and I’ve dealt with some children with serious behavior problems.
I had forgotten about the “smacking children is essential to our religion” case. Fantastic the way that almost as soon as the UK gets human rights law onto the statute books, some meathead wants to use it to justify smacking weans.
The argument seems to be: smacking per se is not held to be an abuse of a child’s human rights under the European Convention on Human Rights. Therefore the British government ought not to be allowed to make it illegal. This seems somewhat arse-backwards to me.
Furthermore, the school now seems to allege that its freedom of religion (as guaranteed by the same Convention, above) is being breached because corporal punishment is “central” to the philosophy of Christianity. Not being a Biblical scholar myself, I would like to ask Christian dopers whether, in their opinion, their religion would be meaningless were it not for this apparent requirement that they slap their children.
Maybe there should be a new one of these statues depicting Jesus thwapping shoolchildren upside the head for unruliness.
Embra
Nice one Embra - I too like the way that ‘spare the rod’ is seized by many Christians. It’s never sounded a particularly Christian ideology to me.
Your post did make me laugh though - thwapping upside the head!! weans as well, you must be from the north somewhere?
Not for the weak stomach.
When I was in parochial school, we occassionally got a swat, but that’s about it-very rarely.
Corporal punishment in schools is never a good thing. There is just far too much room for abuse. I’m the last person to want to tie a school’s hands in how they discipline, but there are too many teachers whom I know too little about to allow them to hit my children. Some of the horror stories above (duct tape!?) confirm this.
I’m sort of torn on this one.
When I was going to elementary school in the 70s, we knew that all we had to do to get the trip to the principal’s office for a paddling, was to misbehave. The majority of us never had to go to the office, just out of fear.
Today, too many parents are too litigious and yet loathe to discipline their children and let them run all over people who should be in authority. Too many kids today don’t know what respect is. I think I’d agree with that “permission sheet” if it were for just paddling.
None of that “whomping” them against the locker and shit.