WASHINGTON (AP) - Paddlings, swats, licks. A quarter of a million schoolchildren got them last year — and blacks, American Indians and kids with disabilities got a disproportionate share of the punishment, according to a study by a human rights group.
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Even little kids can be paddled. Heather Porter, who lives in Crockett, Texas, was startled to hear her little boy, then 3, say he'd been spanked at school. Porter was never told, despite a policy at the public preschool that parents be notified.
"We were pretty ticked off, to say the least. The reason he got paddled was because he was untying his shoes and playing with the air conditioner thermostat," Porter said. "He was being a 3-year-old."
For the study released Wednesday, Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union used Education Department data to show that, while paddling has been declining, racial disparity persists. Researchers also interviewed students, parents and school personnel in Texas and Mississippi, states that account for 40 percent of the 223,190 kids who were paddled at least once in the 2006-2007 school year.
Porter could have filled out a form telling the school not to paddle her son, if only she had realized he might be paddled.
Yet many parents find that such forms are ignored, the study said.
Widespread paddling can make it unlikely that forms will be checked. A teacher interviewed by Human Rights Watch, Tiffany Bartlett, said that when she taught in the Mississippi Delta, the policy was to lock the classroom doors when the bell rang, leaving stragglers to be paddled by an administrator patrolling the hallways. Bartlett now is a school teacher in Austin, Texas.
And even if schools make a mistake, they are unlikely to face lawsuits. In places where corporal punishment is allowed, teachers and principals generally have legal immunity from assault laws, the study said.
"One of the things we've seen over and over again is that parents have difficulty getting redress, if a child is paddled and severely injured, or paddled in violation of parents' wishes," said Alice Farmer, the study's author.
A majority of states have outlawed it, but corporal punishment remains widespread across the South. Behind Texas and Mississippi were Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Florida and Missouri.
African American students are more than twice as likely to be paddled. The disparity persists even in places with large black populations, the study found. Similarly, Native Americans were more than twice as likely to be paddled, the study found.
The study also found:
—In states where paddling is most common, black girls were paddled more than twice as often as white girls.
—Boys are three times as likely to be paddled as girls.
—Special education kids were more likely to be paddled.
More than 100 countries worldwide have banned paddling in schools, including all of Europe, Farmer said. "International human rights law puts a pretty strong prohibition on corporal punishment," she said.
In rural Drew, Miss., Nickolaus Luckett still remembers the paddlings he got in fifth and seventh grades. One happened when he called a teacher by her first name, the other when a classmate said, wrongly, that he threw a spitball.
"I didn't get any bruises, but they still hurt, and from that point on, I told myself and my parents I wasn't going to take any more paddlings," said Luckett, who is about to be a sophomore at the University of Mississippi.
It's not an easy choice. In many schools, kids can avoid a paddling if they accept suspension or detention, or for younger kids, if they skip recess. But often, a child opts for the short-term sting of the paddle.
And sometimes teachers don't have the option of after-school detention, because there are no buses to take kids home later.
During the three years Evan Couzo taught in the Mississippi Delta, he refused to paddle kids, offering detention instead. But others — teachers, parents, even kids — were accustomed to paddling.
"Just about everyone at the beginning of the year said, 'If he or she gives you any trouble, you can paddle them. You can send them home, and I'll paddle them. Or you can have me come out to the school, and we can both paddle them.'
"It's really just a part of the culture of the school environment there," Couzo said.
There is scant research on whether paddling is effective in the classroom. But many studies have shown it doesn't work at home, said Elizabeth Gershoff, a University of Michigan associate professor of social work.
"The use of corporal punishment is associated almost overwhelmingly with negative effects, and that it increases children's problem behavior over time," Gershoff said.
Children may learn to solve problems using aggression, and a sense of resentment might make them act out more, Gershoff said.
The practice is banned in 29 states, most recently in Delaware and Pennsylvania. While some education groups haven't taken a position on the issue, the national PTA believes paddling should be banned everywhere.
"We teach our children that violence is wrong, yet corporal punishment teaches children that violence is a way to solve problems," said Jan Harp Domene, the group's president. "It perpetuates a cycle of child abuse. It teaches children to hit someone smaller and weaker when angry."
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to everyone, i apologize. if any of you ever see a comment i make that is offensive or crude or talks about drugs, please click on 'report offensive langauge' to remove it. try to get the point across to the oklahoman that i am not welcome here. tell everyone you see on here, if they see me comment, to ban it. thanks
Eye Spy, I guess American Indians don't need any more Government hand outs, since you have so much to give away. And your casinos are rigged by the Las Vegas casinos that really own them. Since they are on so called Indian land, there is no government control making sure the machines are not rigged(but they are).
If more parents would spank at home -- i said spank, not beat -- teachers wouldn't have to spank at school. discipline starts at home and more parents need to do it. and for folks who don't believe in spanking, that's just fine. Just make sure you are disciplining your children in some fashion. a well-discplined child doesn't need to worry about the paddle at school.
A 3 year old should be in daycare, not public school. For the rest of the students, without race, color or creed being an issue, paddle them all, guilty or innocent. Spare the paddle, spoil the child.
It is ironic that the educators of the 60's, during the Dr. Spock era, changed our scociety's beliefs concerning discipline, and now have to live with a generation of non-disciplined children in their classrooms. Anyone who can't look at today's children, and compare them to yesterday's children, and see the difference in character and respect is not being honest with themselves. This generation has no respect at all for anyone, not even themselves. Anybody that has ever served in the military knows that respect is a direct result of discipline. You think this generation is bad, wait until you see the next...
My children and I both attended rural schools. Yes, there was corporal punishment, but for my children's generation it was a last resort. Gary, the fact that you resort to calling me 'honey' says volumes about you. -- -- -- -- -- -- My children are both college educated, well rounded contributing members of society. They were NEVER hit with anything other than Mom or Dad's hand. Neither was I. It simply isn't necessary.
hey Ok!! Lazy ha ha wish you knew me. I give and do a lot for students everyday my friend. I don't allow them to be victims, regardless of how they were treated. Parents should do the punishment not bully teachers, minorities being undisciplined what a joke. Whoever made that comment is a fool. I probably make 10x the amount of most of you one here and still do my duty with youth of all colors and situations. Eye spy, good comment. I totally agree about the mass ignorance of white Okies. It is sad and rampant sort of a disease of blissful ignorance. My dad was a teacher, principal a dean and a president of a college. I've seen it all first hand!!!
hey Ok!! Lazy ha ha wish you knew me. I give and do alot for students everyday my friend. I don't alow them to be victims, regardless of how they were trated. Parents should do the punishment not bully teachers, minorities being undisciplined what a joke. Whoever made that comment is a fool. I probably make 10x the amount of most of you one here and stll do my duty with youth of all colors and situations. Eye spy, good comment. I totally agree about the mass ignorance of whit Okies. It is sad and rampant sort fo a disease of blissful ignorance. My dad was a teacher, principal a dean and a president of a college. I've seen it all first hand!!!
I'm almost 30 years old and I'd say that my generation was at the first of this whole "time-out" bull-crap. My parents swatted me and I turned out great-College Education at OSU, Sucessful Career, Own a home and vehicle, and I give back to my community on a regular baasis. However, kids in my class that were not swatted but, grounded or sent to time out are not even close. Some have been in jail, on drugs, had kids out of wedlock, etc. I never once received swats at school...honestly. I knew that the punishment would be worse at home than it could ever be at school. The kids who were grounded or sent to time-out had no consequences at home if they were in trouble at school. For Deann in Crescent, I think it's a joke that you say if the problem is too bad, call law enforcement!!! The point is that it shouldn't get to that level. Take care of the problem early and the law will have nothing to do with it later. Parents are not meant to be friends, they are meant to be figures of authority.
Captain Obvious, Valid Points - Aug 20, 2008 at 2:59 pm
And Scott, you are right; all minorities are not bad. But a larger percentage of minority students come from undisciplined homes and come to school undisciplined. Not to say there aren't fair share of white kids that come from undisciplined homes, also.
You see it everywhere you go. If the child is raised with discipline, they most likely will behave when told so. If they think they can get away with it, they're going to try. Set your Boundaries and stick to them. Single parent homes should not use it as an excuse, they can discipline just as much as two parent homes.
You looneys that are against corporal punishment in schools need to go to a school where it is used opposed to where it is not used. I've taught in both and can tell you there is no comparison. Go to some of these inner city schools and see children running the halls out of class, cursing teachers, assaulting other students, skipping class to go smoke, etc. And then come to one of the rural schools that still paddle and have discipline and order. You'd see the difference.
Deann - The laws of Oklahoma place the school "in loco parentis" (in place of the parent). The Oklahoma Schoo LawCode, Section 125, page 95, states "The teacher of a child attending a public school shall have the same rights as a parent or guardian to control and discipline such child during the time the child is in attendance or is in transit ro or from the school or any other school function authorized by the school district or classroom resided over by the teacher. Therefore, honey, the teachers in the eyes of the law are the same as a parent when the children are in school or at a school activity. And state law allows teachers acting as parents to paddle students when deemed necessary. And nacona - you sound like barry osama spouting the race card; give me a break. And Scott, uhuhuhuh ..ooh.oh.ostumbo isn't a muslim; he's a marxist senator who supports infanticide.
Wanted to share this with the "ignorant" Oklahomans that need a little education. I wrote this regarding tribal gaming and maybe it extends to education...
Tribes / Tribal Casinos bring more to the table than many realize. Smaller towns and cities benefit greatly from the revenue that tribal members spend on their local economies. Tribal programs spend alot of of their program funding on small Mom&Pop Businesses. Ask any small-town business owner... When pow-wows come to town, alot of revenue again is generated. Tribal per-capita payments are also spent on gasoline, utilities, school-clothes, most of not all, which are non Native-owned. Tribes also give funds to school districts, fund our own tribal colleges and contribute to the well-being of this state. We also pay Federal and State taxes, which many people do not realize. Many of us have also had to pay our own way through for college, often with little help from our Tribes. Tribal social service programs also take some of the burden off the state health departments. There are Tribal Elder Care programs that help pay for medications, medical bills, car-repairs, hom-improvement,etc... Think about this as well, we also contribute more, percentage-wise, service men/women to the military than any other ethnicity. We have lost loved ones on this war for oil for a country whose citizens often over-look Native American contributions and have stolen our lands. WAKE UP OKLAHOMA!!! Open your eyes...Quit making yourselves look uneducated!
EyeSpy, All Over The Place - Aug 20, 2008 at 2:35 pm
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More than half of Oklahoma children are schooled in districts that do not have corporal punishment, according to the Ohio-based advocacy nonprofit Center for Effective Discipline.
However, Oklahoma still ranks fourth for the highest number of students struck by educators, behind Mississippi, Arkansas and Alabama, according to the center.
In the 2006-07 school year, 14,828 students, or 2.3 percent, were paddled in Oklahoma, according to the organization’s Web site, www.stophitting.com.
Oklahoma law states:
“Each district board of education shall adopt a policy for the control and discipline of all children attending public school in that district. Such policy shall provide options for the methods of control and discipline of the students and shall define standards of conduct to which students are expected to conform. ... Except concerning students on individualized education plans (IEP) pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ... the State Board of Education shall not have authority to prescribe student disciplinary policies for school districts or to proscribe corporal punishment in the public schools.”
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Ignorant White Okie
Tribes / Tribal Casinos bring more to the table than many realize. Smaller towns and cities benefit greatly from the revenue that tribal members spend on their local economies. Tribal programs spend alot of of their program funding on small Mom&Pop Businesses. Ask any small-town business owner... When pow-wows come to town, alot of revenue again is generated. Tribal per-capita payments are also spent on gasoline, utilities, school-clothes, most of not all, which are non Native-owned. Tribes also give funds to school districts, fund our own tribal colleges and contribute to the well-being of this state. We also pay Federal and State taxes, which many people do not realize. Many of us have also had to pay our own way through for college, often with little help from our Tribes. Tribal social service programs also take some of the burden off the state health departments. There are Tribal Elder Care programs that help pay for medications, medical bills, car-repairs, hom-improvement,etc... Think about this as well, we also contribute more, percentage-wise, service men/women to the military than any other ethnicity. We have lost loved ones on this war for oil for a country whose citizens often over-look Native American contributions and have stolen our lands. WAKE UP OKLAHOMA!!! Open your eyes...Quit making yourselves look uneducated!