Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard
Posted: 06/22/2010 01:30:17 AM PDT
When I went to school in the fifties and early sixties, paddling was a common form of punishment. I know this because I became acquainted with the practice by fourth grade. Teachers nationwide served up that dreaded “Board of Education” routinely in those days.
After I grew up, and got married and had three sons, the subject of paddling in school never came up. Not that my boys were goodie two-shoes who never got in trouble. They just never went to a school where paddling was permitted.
The state of California, where they went to school, outlawed corporal punishment in schools back in 1986. To my surprise, I recently learned there are still 20 states where it's legal for teachers to paddle their students.
Further research revealed that we are one of the few countries in the world to allow such treatment. Over 100 countries, including Canada, Australia, the countries of Western Europe and the U.K. outlawed corporal punishment decades ago.
It's not like we don't have organizations that oppose corporal punishment in schools. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association and the American Civil Liberties Union have all fought for years to get the practice banned nationwide.
For the first time in nearly two decades, Congress held hearings in April on the use of corporal punishment in schools. As a result of those hearings, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) will introduce a bill in the House this month to deny federal funding to schools that allow corporal punishment.
UPDATE:
From: Nadine A. Block, Executive Director, Center for Effective Discipline and co-chair of EPOCH-USA
Thanks for the nice article informing the public that the “board of education” is still a problem in the U.S. Representative McCarthy’s aide says the bill will be going to the Education and Labor Committee shortly!
Nadine
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