Advocates call for end to paddling in 45 Kentucky school districts

This from the Herald-Leader:

James Wallace said he and his wife, Tammy, gave permission for the Belfry Middle School principal to paddle their 12-year-old son in November for spitting on another child in a fight.

But Wallace said his son ended up in a hospital emergency room for treatment of bruises and blisters on his buttocks. A board that regulates teachers in Kentucky is investigating the incident in Pike County, which is among 45 school districts in Kentucky that report allowing corporal punishment.

The case comes at a time when the Blueprint for Kentucky's Children, a six-year plan to improve child well-being in Kentucky, is calling for all school districts to stop corporal punishment. Kentucky law allows each district to decide whether to use corporal punishment.

"I believe in local control, but it shouldn't be a ZIP code lottery, where some kids get smacked and some kids don't depending upon where they live," said Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates...

Top paddlers

The Kentucky 2010 Annual Safe School Data Project lists the five following school districts as reporting the most incidents of corporal punishment for the 2009-10 school year.

Pike County 263

McCreary County 187

Russell County 141

Bell County 100

Pulaski County 89

These five school districts had the highest rate of corporal punishment per 100 students.

Monticello Independent 6.97

McCreary County 6.16

Russell County 4.87

Clinton County 4.18

Fairview Independent 3.58

Bring back the cane in schools, say one in five British teachers

As a high-spirited youngster at school in the '60s I was caned quite often. Sometimes I would be given a choice of lines, detention, or the cane. I always took the cane as it was all over and done with in seconds. It never did me any lasting harm, and mostly I deserved it. And when I didn't, it made up for the times when I'd got away with it. No harm done. Teachers then had been through the war and weren't scared of gobby little snots like they are today.

- John Austen, Cranbrook, England, 03/10/2008 10:58

This from the Daily Mail:

One in five teachers would like to see the cane brought back in schools to help discipline unruly children, a survey has revealed.

They would back the return of corporal punishment because they have had enough of deteriorating pupil behaviour.

The research comes amid rising concern about poorly behaved children who routinely flout authority both in school and out.

The Times Educational Supplement (TES) survey of 6,162 teachers found that overall, 20.3 per cent backed 'the right to use corporal punishment in extreme cases'.
Support was strongest among secondary school teachers, with 22 per cent backing the idea compared to 16 per cent of primary school teachers.

But only 12 per cent of heads and deputy and assistant heads agreed with its return.

Supply teacher Judith Cookson told the TES that she 'strongly' supported the return of corporal punishment.

She said: 'There are too many anger management people and their ilk who give children the idea that it is their right to flounce out of lessons for time out because they have problems with their temper. 'They should be caned instead.'

And primary teacher Ravi Kasinathan said: 'There is justification, or an argument, for bringing back corporal punishment, if only as a deterrent. I believe some children just don't respond to the current sanctions.'

But John Dunford, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: 'Thankfully, corporal punishment is no longer on the agenda, except in the most uncivilised countries...

More than 200,000 kids spanked at school

This from CNN:

Schools in 21 states can use corporal punishment

More than 200,000 children were spanked or paddled in U.S. schools during the past school year, human rights groups reported Wednesday.

"Every public school needs effective methods of discipline, but beating kids teaches violence, and it doesn't stop bad behavior," wrote Alice Farmer, the author of a joint report from Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union. "Corporal
punishment discourages learning, fails to deter future misbehavior and at times even provokes it."

Corporal punishment in schools remains legal in 21 U.S. states and is used frequently in 13: Missouri, Kentucky, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Florida, according to data received from the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education and cited in the report.

The highest percentage of students receiving corporal punishment was in Mississippi, with 7.5 percent of students. The highest number was in Texas, with 48,197 students.

"When you talk to local school officials, they point to the fact that it's quick and it's effective -- and that's true," Farmer said. "It doesn't take much time to administer corporal punishment, and you don't have to hire someone to run a detention or an after-school program."

But she said, "We need forms of discipline that makes children understand why what they did was wrong."

In addition, corporal punishment can be linked to poverty and lack of resources. For instance, the report said, "Teachers may have overcrowded classrooms and lack resources such as counselors to assist with particularly disruptive students or classroom dynamics."

Overall, 223,190 students received corporal punishment in 2006-07, according to the Department of Education statistics. That number is down from 342,038 students in 2000-01 as more and more districts abolished corporal punishment....

More on corporal punishment in Kentucky from KSN&C:

And from Ed WEek:

Study Finds Minorities More Likely to Be Paddled

Paddlings, swats, licks. A quarter of a million schoolchildren got them in 2007 — and blacks, American Indians and kids with disabilities got a disproportionate share of the punishment, according to a study by a human rights group...