Missouri school district reinstates spanking as punishment: 'We've had people actually thank us'

[ZiprHead]

Missouri school district reinstates spanking as punishment: 'We've had people actually thank us'

The Cassville school board approved a policy this summer to once again use corporal punishment as a disciplinary measure for K-12 students.

www.usatoday.com

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A school district in Missouri announced it will reinstate spanking this school year – but with a parental caveat.

Cassville School School District superintendent Merlyn Johnson said he did not take the job a year ago with a plan to reinstate corporal punishment – a disciplinary measure the 1,900-student Barry County district abandoned in 2001.

"But it is something that has happened on my watch and I'm OK with it," Johnson said.

Cassville is a small town with a population just under 4,000 people about 60 miles southwest of Springfield, near the Arkansas border.

Parents were recently notified of a policy approved in June by the school board to once again allow spanking in school – but only as a last resort and with written permission from parents.

Each family will be asked to opt in or out.

 

[Gospel]

I got my ass whooped a lot when I was a kid. I don't regret any of it however all those ass kicking's was done at home. It was either by uncles, aunts or extremely close nit neighbors (I mean the over the house so much that they became indistinguishable from family type neighbors). Schools have no business doing that IMO.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

Conservatives: "Teachers are trying to turn your children gay and trans!!111!one!1"

Also, Conservatives: "Hey, it's okay if you teachers slap my children on the ass when I am not around."

 

[TV and credit cards]

Good job Missouri. When all else fails, committing acts of violence upon children is your solution.

Well, hopefully Missouri's children along with their pregnant women can find their way to freedom in Illinois.

 

[laughing dog]

Jesus Tap Dancing Christ - what's next? The stockade?

 

[Elixir]

Jesus Tap Dancing Christ - what's next? The stockade?

I liked the old witch dunking contraption depicted in books. That’ll teach ‘em.

 

[TomC]

I got my ass whooped a lot when I was a kid.

I'll bet you did. Not often enough, apparently.

When I was a kid my dad made kinda a production out of telling us kids that he was giving the school permission to spank us.

"Look kids. I'm signing this paper letting the staff know that I'm okay with spanking you when you need it and they'll decide when you need it.
Tell me about it later and you'll probably get another spanking before I call the school to find out what you did, and shouldn't have, before you get another one!"

Tom

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

When I was in grade school paddle happy clowns taught me contempt for low grade authority. Of course, nowadays it is different. A paddle happy fool (usually a gym coach) might get his ass capped by an angry paddled dindu.

 

[thebeave]

Getting a swat was a pretty common event when I was a kid. In 3rd grade, me and two other kids got a good whack with the paddle from the school principal when we were caught throwing rocks after school and off school grounds! Same thing in 6th grade for throwing snowballs (in school this time) with two other (different) kids. Never notified parents in advance. The paddle was wide and had holes in it to make it sting more. They even gave the paddle a name (Elmer). When you said you had to go see Elmer, everyone knew what that meant. I think I learned my lesson after the second swat. Somehow we all survived and thrived as adults. That said, I think its best not to swat kids for misbehaving in today's world, but I'm also skeptical that a single, firm swat to the ass ever did any real lasting harm, and in fact probably helped maintain discipline in the school. Guess I'm sorta "old school".

 

[Alcoholic Actuary]

They're already being shot at.

aa

 

[Toni]

I was once threatened with a paddling in front of the class because tears came to my eyes when a teacher yelled at me for something that was not my fault: If I dared cry, the teacher threatened to paddle me in front of the class. A good friend was frequently paddled for talking---there was a lot of emotional damage done to the extent that schools dramatically underestimated her because she never, ever spoke up in class. Even at our age, the damage is still done. I still remember a kid getting paddled for something he didn't do. My parents were big fans of corporal punishment. I almost got paddled myself for tearing up when my sibling got paddled for destroying something of mine. I was pretty young when I figured out that it was unnecessary and unfair way to 'discipline.'

I get the appeal: It's a cheap, lazy way to prove you are 'doing something' about a problem that absolutely does nothing to solve the problem and does create more problems. Best case scenario: It makes kids secretive and unwilling to come to parents and other authorities when there's something or someone bothering them. Parents, teachers, all school personnel really want kids to be able to trust them and to be willing to come to them with problems.

 

[Derec]

 

[Rhea]

I’ve had, over my life, a 180 turn in beliefs on this. I used to claim, “I was beaten as a child, and I turned out fine. Beatings impart necessary discipline and learning.”

But over the course of many readings, observations, discussions (many of them here at the II) and childrearing of my own, I have changed my opinion.

Beatings, or spankings (not the same in my opinion, but on a spectrum together and in the eye of the beholder - the child) do teach. They teach by fear. Fear of painful consequences.

But the major flaw in that lesson is that it does not teach enough about the behavior in question. It shortcuts to fear. It does not promote critical thinking and how to extend the lesson to other situations.

An additional flaw is that it teaches that society will support you in inflicting pain, if you think someone deserves it. And fails to follow up with, here’s how you accurately decide if they deserve it.

I think there is a reason why children of abusive households are the most likely people to become abusive parents. How short-sighted that we cannot see how that applies to children whose physical punishment is just shy of abuse?

People do what they are taught. If physical harm is taught, children will turn around and mete it out in their efforts to be mature. But they will lack the judgment that the adults (think they) have.


If you don’t want to teach kids to hit, your very very best bet is to not tell them that hitting is okay, for some people, and hope they know the difference.

I have come to be convinced that spanking causes many more social problems than it solves. I have come to see examples where adult supervision solved many many more problems than spanking ever could.

In the case of these schools and the discipline issues they are trying to address, I oppose school systems that get so large that the students experience the feeling of being unsupervised. I support funding schools better (yes, throwing money at it) to enable two things: 1) so that the adult-to-student ratio remains developmentally appropriate for the kids and 2) so that the community size remains emotionally accessible for the kids. By number two I mean that if any given student knows that they will be “seen” by a small number of adults who will talk to each other, then they will misbehave less. But if they sense that even if adults are around, there are too many kids for them to remember who did what, and the adults clearly don’t have time to share notes (or logistically can’t because who do you share with for some kids versus others), then the misbehavior will not be effectively addressed.

There have been several programs involving parent volunteers (this needs to be funded chaperones for districts where all the kids’ parents are working) who monitor hallways, locker rooms and courtyards. These programs *work* to make sure that studying is enhanced and bullying is prevented.


Spanking in schools is contrary to all of the evidence I’ve seen on successfully teaching behavior.

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

If paddlings are OK for school children, why is paddling not acceptable for Congressmen when they misbehave? Like telling lies for example. If some Congresswoman will not pass through the metal detecor at the door, Pelosi should instruct the House seargent-at-arms to give her 3 swats.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I was once threatened with a paddling in front of the class because tears came to my eyes when a teacher yelled at me for something that was not my fault: If I dared cry, the teacher threatened to paddle me in front of the class. A good friend was frequently paddled for talking---there was a lot of emotional damage done to the extent that schools dramatically underestimated her because she never, ever spoke up in class. Even at our age, the damage is still done. I still remember a kid getting paddled for something he didn't do. My parents were big fans of corporal punishment. I almost got paddled myself for tearing up when my sibling got paddled for destroying something of mine. I was pretty young when I figured out that it was unnecessary and unfair way to 'discipline.'

I get the appeal: It's a cheap, lazy way to prove you are 'doing something' about a problem that absolutely does nothing to solve the problem and does create more problems. Best case scenario: It makes kids secretive and unwilling to come to parents and other authorities when there's something or someone bothering them. Parents, teachers, all school personnel really want kids to be able to trust them and to be willing to come to them with problems.

Really, physical violence is never actually about discipline to prevent certain future misbehavior as it is about punishing, put someone in their place.

After all, we hear people say they got smacked around as a kid... implying the threat and application of force wasn’t actually a deterrent.

 

[Eldarion Lathria]

How long before the following things happen?

1: An attempt is made to paddle a student who can effectively resist. The result is the paddler is injured, knocked unconscious or killed. The student claims self defense.
2: One parent gives consent, the other does not. The result is either: legal action, the parent who does not consent hits the paddler.
3: A kid is paddled. He tells an older sibling, the older sibling and his friends disguise themselves and beat the holy godelpus out of the paddler.
4: A student older than eighteen is paddled. The student takes legal action.
5: A student claims sexual assault.

All of these things have happened.

Eldarion Lathria

 

[thebeave]

It is interesting how times have changed...

 

[ZiprHead]

  [HEADING=2]School corporal punishment[/HEADING]

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), there are three broad rationales for the use of corporal punishment in schools: beliefs, based in traditional religion, that adults have a right, if not a duty, to physically punish misbehaving children; a disciplinary philosophy that corporal punishment builds character, being necessary for the development of a child's conscience and their respect for adult authority figures; and beliefs concerning the needs and rights of teachers, specifically that corporal punishment is essential for maintaining order and control in the classroom.[7]

 

[TLK Valentine]

 

[southernhybrid]

I grew up in New Jersey, where teachers were forbidden to hit students. I started school in 1950s, and I think that the law in NJ goes back much further than that. My father beat us with his belt, making me a fierce opponent of hitting children, so I never hit my son. All of the Southern states I've lived in permitted teachers to use violence as a form of discipline. Actually, when I did volunteer work in Georgia, only the principle could paddle a child. That was about 20 years ago, so I'm not sure if that's still allowed.

I have a little personal story about this. When my son was in the 3rd grade, he came home one day and said that the teacher had hit him with a ruler on his wrist. I went to the school and told his teacher that I didn't want her to ever hit my son again. She quoted that stupid "Spare the rod and spoil the child". She claimed it was Biblical, although, I know that's not the exact quote.

Proverbs 13:24

English Standard Version

​

24 Whoever spares the rod hates his son,
but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.[a]

I told her I was an atheist so I didn't care what the Bible said. I just didn't want anyone hitting my son. She started to cry. I told her I had no intention of getting her in trouble or reporting this to the principle, so she had nothing to worry about. The good thing that happened as a result, is that the school decided not to ever use corporal punishment as a way to correct children again. I assume she told her boss what happened, out of fear. Btw, she hit my son because he wasn't paying close enough attention in class. Damn.

To me, hitting or paddling children is a form of violence that serves no constructive purpose. When I volunteered in the local school, I remember two young Black boys being sent to the principle to be paddled. Although I don't recall the reason, it's true that one of the boys was a problem, but I don't think hitting him helped. He was a mess. He was being raised by his grandmother and I think his mom was in prison. The poor child. had never been exposed to a good, loving environment. I don't think hitting him helped.

I'm not claiming that being hit or beaten as a child necessarily causes emotional damage, but it's not constructive and sometimes does cause emotional damage. It's not acceptable to hit an adult, so why do so many people think it's okay to hit a small, defenseless child?

It's sad to see that hitting children is having a come back in some of the schools.