Paddling students? About time!

I am glad to see this happening at least at this school and would 100% give my permission if given the option when my son starts school.
+1 it gives parents the option to come in and administer the paddling themselves if they so desire!

That is absolutley awesome! As mentioned in the article there are a lot less kids sent to the principle now. I don't think it is something that needs to happen often, but having that final punishment is something that can really turn a lot of kids around. I was spanked in school and I think it is a good thing to have at your disposal as long as it is used correctly (which seems to be the case here). I wish this would come back in many more schools.

When I have kids and they get into school I'm going to do exactly what the one father did, go in and tell them they have permission. Not that it will do any good right away, but if enough parents get behind this then it may be legal again even in this state.

Sorry, I think paddling is wrong.... for the kids. Maybe the parents, but no kids. School administrators are teachers and managers. They should do that job only.

I won't get on a soap box or anything, but there is a better way: If kids misbehave, they are sent home. Call the parents, and explain that their child is disruptive and they must pick them up. The second offense is expulsion. Put the punishment at the parents wallet (missing work) where it belongs.

I'd give the principle the right to do this at my young girl's school. She would only have to know that the option is there for it to be a deterrent for her.

However, lots of kids who are spanked are either used to it, or don't think of the consequences beforehand. It doesn't work on every kid.

r2eng said:

Sorry, I think paddling is wrong.... for the kids. Maybe the parents, but no kids. School administrators are teachers and managers. They should do that job only.

I won't get on a soap box or anything, but there is a better way: If kids misbehave, they are sent home. Call the parents, and explain that their child is disruptive and they must pick them up. The second offense is expulsion. Put the punishment at the parents wallet (missing work) where it belongs.

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Doesn't work well, at least at the schools here. There are some parents that just don't care and won't come get their kids until they have to.

It would work for some parents, but often times if the kid misbehaves it is because he knows there are no consequences at home either.

Also thought this was a good synopsis of the article

Kids at the school say the paddle definitely makes them think twice about acting up. Asked if he's afraid of it, second-grader Nathan Hoover says, "Yes! It really hurts." The policy, he explains, is three strikes and you're struck. "I know if I got [paddled at school]," Nathan says, "my mom would whip me, too." Hoover's mother says she would give Nixon permission to paddle her child—parents only get the form if their child commits a major offense—but she's relieved that corporal punishment is only a "last resort." "Some kids see too much of that at home," Hoover says. They're no longer seeing much of it anymore at John C. According to Nixon, the last time he paddled a student was more than a month ago: March 16, after a fourth-grader swore in the cafeteria. Corporal punishment, it would seem, has worked so well at John C that perhaps the need for it no longer exists.

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It all comes back to parenting practices. Spanking/paddling is a tool that can be very effective, but is often not effective because it is improperly applied. I was spanked as a child and had a wonderfully happy childhood and relationship with my parents because of it. Directly. Children respond well to boundaries and clearly defined limits. If you don't set those limits clearly so the child can understand them, the spanking does no good but to show the child you don't have your shat together and that you are fickle. That is why many people don't think spankings work.

That said, I do not believe schools should be paddling kids. It isn't the schools job to be parents. Send the kids to the principal, alert the parents and let them sort it out at home. The problem is with parents who defend their kids against the principal. A lot of that makes me sick. If I did something wrong at school or in public as a kid, it was WAY worse for me than if I did it with my parents right there. That kind of discipline teaches you to be responsible even when mommy and daddy aren't looking over your shoulder and instills an independent responsibility.

Boerderij_Kabouter said:

It isn't the schools job to be parents. Send the kids to the principal, alert the parents and let them sort it out at home. The problem is with parents who defend their kids against the principal. A lot of that makes me sick. If I did something wrong at school or in public as a kid, it was WAY worse for me than if I did it with my parents right there. That kind of discipline teaches you to be responsible even when mommy and daddy aren't looking over your shoulder and instills an independent responsibility.

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There is so little respect for teachers and principles now. They are often viewed as state-paid babysitters. The problems I've seen/heard are that when there are a few disruptive students in class (whose parents don't care and the administration can't do anything to keep them in line) they make it so the whole class can't learn, instead you spend an inordinate amount of time trying to get them to behave. You can keep them in for recess, you can sit them apart from everyone else, they don't care, they just keep acting up anyway.

Oh don't I know it. My wife is a teacher and spent a year in MPS (Milwaukee Public Schools). Basically babysitting because some of the students are sooooo far behind that the whole class gets held back.

Once they get older, the ones who never learned enough just turned into trouvble and behavior becomes the main problem.

Accountability at home is a huge deal. We need more of it.

r2eng said:

If kids misbehave, they are sent home. Call the parents, and explain that their child is disruptive and they must pick them up. The second offense is expulsion.

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And what if I told you that disciplining the kid while he's at school is YOUR job as teachers/administrators? It would happen and the only alternative you'd have is to send the kid to an 'alternative education' school. How's that helping the kid?

MMW said:

And what if I told you that disciplining the kid while he's at school is YOUR job as teachers/administrators? It would happen and the only alternative you'd have is to send the kid to an 'alternative education' school. How's that helping the kid?

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This is the problem. It ISN'T the teachers job. That is OUR job as parents. If you want some frazzled teacher to raise your kid and tell them how to be a good human, maybe you should have kept a cap on your longboy.

Discipline within schools should entail quick vocal discipline for minor disturbances or to keep things in check, and removal to the principal's office for serious disruptive behavior. Kids who are well behaved should not be deprived their education because some kid can't get his crap together and is disruptive all the time. It is the parents job to instill respect for teachers so disruptions in class are not a way of life.

Unfortunately, in many areas (mostly urban from the research data and anecdotal evidence) many if not most of the class are poorly behaved and any kids who started out with a chance get caught in the wash of the ridiculous behavior that pervades many schools. It is sad and pissed me off.

The whole idea is an idiotic ideal that is better left in the 50's.

I fully believe in taking a hand to your OWN kid's ass if they get out of line and the situation warrants it. If you do your job correctly as a parent, your kid shouldn't get so far out of line in school that paddling would even be considered.

I fully respect teachers but am not so naive to believe [ame="http://www.google.com/search?q=child+porn+teacher&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&client=firefox-a"]they're perfect[/ame] to the point of delivering that kind of punishment. If a teacher, principal, whoever took a paddle to either one of my boys' asses, I'd club 'em like a baby seal with it.

As a survivor (yes, survivor) of Catholic schools in the dark ages, back when they took rulers to your knuckles and grabbed you by the short hairs on your neck, I'm dead-set against teachers striking children in any fashion.

Already been posited here, but it's the parents' job to instill good behavior and respect in their children. All paddling does is frighten them. I didn't respect the teachers who whacked my knuckles with a ruler. I was terrified of them.

My 1st-grade daughter came home last week sobbing because she did nothing more than disappoint her teacher, whom she adores. Apparently my kid was disrupting class by too often opening and closing the velcro straps on her shoes. She was do distraught by being asked to stop that I actually felt a measure of pride because she knew she showed disrespect to the teacher.

I don't spank my kids, but I can see where some parents might. In schools, never.

Boerderij_Kabouter said:

This is the problem. It ISN'T the teachers job. That is OUR job as parents.

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Kids are going to push boundaries-- it's what kids do. It is absolutely the school's place to set firm boundaries and consequences for exceeding them. Evidently, the school in question needed firmer consequences for whatever reason. I think corporal punishment is like any other tool: it can be used too little, too much, or applied appropriately in the right circumstances.

Still-- how is kicking a kid out of school, probably into some 'alternative' institute (please keep in mind that not every district has multiple schools to which a kid could transfer), helping the child regardless of however his parent is raising him?

I don't know about all school districts and know they vary greatly, but you have to nearly kill a man to get kicked out of school where I live. We have a high school program for those who need to hold super senior status but that is about as alternative as it gets. Or, if you do go super crazy and get expelled then you have to pay for private school.

BTW, where I am from, if you get to that point, paying for private school is going to be the least of your worries if it comes to that.

I would sign a waiver to allow my children to get a swat or two at school!!!

that being said, I think that would require a bit more training for the teacher/principal dealing out the punishment!!

I also strongly feel this needs to be in the DEBATE FORUM!!!!!!!

-Jason

I see if it is a girl they have a female do it and I guess that protects against the heterosexual abuse but what about the homosexual abuse? Just thought I would point that out since they seem to have at least thought about the sexual abuse aspect.

A spanking is not the end of the world for a kid but it can be a good deterrint. I got spanked in school (once). I didn't even do what I got a whipping for, did it ruin my life? No!

If parents would actually parent their children instead of being their best friends then we wouldn't need much discipline in school, unfortunately they want the state to raise their kids, which is to nobody's benefit. But if my good kids are in a class and can't learn jack squat because there are disruptive kids there, I want them to be disciplined and have the classroom brought back into an environment conducive to learning.

BK my wife is also a teacher, it is a hard hard job, I'd never do it.

My wife is a teacher as well is my step father and step mother alike. I hear stories constantly of how horrible kids are. And a HUGE reason they act like they do is because they KNOW that the faculty can't touch them. Our principle in Elementary school had a paddle hanging on his wall behind his desk. Some kids got it, I never did. Knowing it was there was enough to make me behave. I was raised by a great parent who turned me into a responsible intelligent person. That doesn't mean I wasn't going to try and get away with certain things at school! I was a friggin 6-12 year old boy!

If teachers were allowed to incorporate justifiable punishment, then kids would think twice about acting up. Instead of the scenario that happens instead:
"A kid hates school and doesn't want to be there. So he disrupts class (preventing kids wanting to learn and not be a life failure from doing so) until he is sent to the principals office. The Principal then cannot legally do anything because our society is a bunch of over sensitive weenies, so he is forced to deliver the only option he has. Expulsion. Oh no! What a way to punish a kid who doesn't want to be at school! Don't let him go!
I know my mom never shoved a box of cookies in my face to punish me for stealing cookies before dinner!

I know there could be some cases, especially these days, where some teachers may go overboard with it, but I think the School in the article has all the bugs worked out. Not to mention, THE PARENT SIGNS A WAIVER ALLOWING IT and has the option to come do it themselves if they want.

We all see how much better schools are now than they were in the 50's...

I think the crux of this argument that many seem to be missing is that the spanking policy is a voluntary thing. Parents can sign up for it to be done on their behalf. If you don't want your kid spanked by anyone else but you, then you don't have to sign up for it. Furthermore, it seems that you will not even get the option unless your kid has done something disruptive enough to warrant that level of punishment.

I've got great kids who would never intentionally disrupt the class (so far anyway), and I've only ever had to spank them a couple of times when they were very young. For them, the realization that a spanking would be a punishment is enough deterrent.

I can still remember the last time my oldest got a spanking. She was about 9 I think. Funny thing is, she doesn't remember it now, but has had one since (she's 14).

Being a teacher, figured that I better pipe in.

As for my upbringing, I grew up in a strict Irish/Scottish household. My old man and my mum certainly gave my sister and me a lot lickings. We both deserved it pretty much everytime; pushing boundaries is part of being a kid. The squirt gun flamethrower was one such time. Corporal punishment is one thing; abuse is another. The line between them can be fine and it can be used fo good or evil. I respect my parents for they way that they raised us - boundaries with consequences for crossing them. Regardless, IMHO the time has passed where corporal discipline should be a teacher's role or responsibility.

Personally, I am firm, but fair as a teacher; I am a traditionalist when it comes to my classroom - desks in rows, teaching the 3 R's and dealing with bad behaviour. I have very high expectations for my students, in terms of their progress, their behaviour and their respect for themselves and others. I have been known to verbally rip into to students, both publicly and privately, if they have done something dangerous, deliberately mean-spirited or just plain idiotic. Nevertheless, I have been told time after time that the students respect me for setting rules and enforcing them in my classroom. Kids need, and want, boundaries; you have to set, enforce and follow through with them. It can be hard, but what isn't? I have had parents that have given me permission to whack their kids; I have to remind them that we don't do that anyomore in schools.

Ultimately, a kid's parents should be the ones who punishing them corporally, if they choose. I strongly believe that corporal punishment is a parent's right, and that correcting children with a good smack is necessary sometimes. It drives me nuts when parents enable their kids, and make a million excuses for everything they do. Raise your kids to be hard-working, respectful but compassionate people. They'll make bad decisions sometimes, and they need to know that there are consequences. They might hate you for 10 minutes, but will respect you for it in the end.

Just my two bits.

As a middle school teacher I am supportive of this.