Here’s an type of opt-out list we don’t often write about: Corporal punishment in schools is legal in lots of states, but if you assumed parents could always opt-out, you’d be mistaken. According to a report from WHNT in Alabama, one student was beaten until he was bruised because he failed a science test.
The kid, who says he (and his mom) reported the teacher to the local news because he wants to save other kids from being bruised, describes the incident:
“It felt like he was trying to touch the ceiling and when he came down… it felt like he was trying to smack me through the wall.”
The news station investigated and found that the teacher apparently didn’t break any laws, but that the school district handbook doesn’t specifically allow kids to be subjected to corporal punishment for purely academic offenses, such as failing a test. As for a “no paddle” list, there’s apparently no such thing in DeKalb County, Alabama.
From WHNT:
WHNT NEWS 19 called the DeKalb County Superintendent’s office more than a dozen times to ask about the rules and regulations surrounding corporal punishment. They refused to answer our questions but did say they follow Alabama state laws. We called the Alabama Department of Education and officials told WHNT NEWS 19 that corporal punishment “is authorized under the policies and guidelines developed by the local board of education.”
Melissa Lewis says nowhere in the county handbook does it state that a child can be disciplined for anything academic related. WHNT NEWS 19 also studied the handbook and learned Lewis was right. The handbook does list some violations, but academics are not one of them. Furthermore, the handbook says corporal punishment should only be administered with “moderate use of physical force” and only in order to “maintain discipline” and “enforce school rules.”
Principal Bell says all kids should always be given alternatives to paddling such as in-school suspension. But Payton says he never received that alternative. Payton said, “He just lectured us about how his dad beat him and said that’s what I am going to do to you.”
Perhaps all this could have been solved if Melissa opted to sign a “no paddle list.” Several schools across the country are giving the power back to the parents. But after doing some digging, WHNT NEWS 19 learned no such option exists in DeKalb County.
The mother in this case has filed a police report and is waiting to see if the county district attorney will press criminal charges. In the meantime, the school has sent a memo “discouraging” paddling “for the time being.”
Paddling: Parent Claims Teacher Went To The Extreme [WHNT]
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I’m appalled that (at present) 11.81% of voters are okay with physical abuse as a form of punishment. What is wrong with you people?
Corporal punishment in schools is legal in the following states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming. I think that’s 21 states too many.
Since the source of this is only the kid and the mom I would take this with a big grain of salt. These little clips of information (if you want to call them that) doesnt show the whole story and what when down.
The policy also teaches children that teachers are allowed to hurt you by beating you and that you should fear teachers and not respect them. In an environment like this, children learn that beating people is normal adult behavior and society accepts it.
Maybe teachers from other states who have been fired for assaulting children will now flock to Alabama to get back into it.
I wonder what else Alabama teachers are allowed to do to students with no fear of reprisal?
I got “the beats” once as a child, in 2nd grade. I lived only a couple blocks from school, and one day my neighbor’s dog King had wandered over to the playground. It was recess, he recoginsed me, ran up wagging his tail. I greeted him and patted him on the head. Next thing I know I was hauled aside, told I broke the rules about petting “stray dogs” (I tried to explain it wasn’t a stray and I knew the dog, but I was told “Don’t talk back to me!!”), so I got whacked with a wooden paddle with holes drilled in it. My parents were livid, but that was after the fact. Some years later in 6th grade I was before the principal and ordered to apologise to the daughter of a teacher who had been accused of cheating on a test, I hadn’t ratted on her, but when I was asked what I saw going on I told the truth, that she appeared to be copying answers from another test paper. I refused to apologise, but before they starting beating on me, I reminded them my Dad had a letter on file opting out of corporal punishment. It saved me, and boy, were they PO’d. This was in Missouri in the late 60′s.
I got “the beats” once as a child, in 2nd grade. I lived only a couple blocks from school, and one day my neighbor’s dog King had wandered over to the playground. It was recess, he recoginsed me, ran up wagging his tail. I greeted him and patted him on the head. Next thing I know I was hauled aside, told I broke the rules about petting “stray dogs” (I tried to explain it wasn’t a stray and I knew the dog, but I was told “Don’t talk back to me!!”), so I got whacked with a wooden paddle with holes drilled in it. My parents were livid, but that was after the fact. Some years later in 6th grade I was before the principal and ordered to apologise to the daughter of a teacher who had been accused of cheating on a test, I hadn’t ratted on her, but when I was asked what I saw going on I told the truth, that she appeared to be copying answers from another test paper. I refused to apologise, but before they starting beating on me, I reminded them my Dad had a letter on file opting out of corporal punishment. It saved me, and boy, were they PO’d. This was in Missouri in the late 60′s.
Oh boo freaking hoo hoo.
It seems to me that paddling little Johnie’s butt for failing to study might actually give him some motivation to do his homework.
Snowflakes. All of them.
I say put a paddle in every classroom.
“When I grow up, I wanna be just like Alabama man!”
Maybe this kid will learn not to fail anymore tests.