Finally Someone Gets It

Image via Wikipedia

I have posted a couple of times recently (here and here) about corporal punishment in schools. Well, finally someone gets it and has proposed legislation to stop its use.

From ACLU.org:

WASHINGTON – Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) today introduced the Ending Corporal Punishment in Schools Act, a bill that would eliminate the use of corporal punishment in public and private schools that serve students receiving federal services. The American Civil Liberties Union strongly supports the bill, and urges Congress to swiftly pass the legislation.

 

“Children have the right to learn in a safe, supportive environment that allows them to reach their full academic potential; the Ending Corporal Punishment in Schools Act will help create the kind of classrooms they need,” said Laura W. Murphy, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. “The American Civil Liberties Union has fought long and hard to make corporal punishment in schools a thing of the past, and we urge Congress to finally put an end to this cruel and outdated form of punishment and swiftly act to pass this bill.”

 

Corporal punishment is a legal form of discipline in 20 states, and according to U.S. Department of Education data, it is disproportionately used against African-American students and students with disabilities. There is currently no federal ban on the use of corporal punishment against students, despite evidence that the practice injures students and hinders achievement in the classroom. The ACLU, along with dozens of coalition partners, sent a letter to Rep. McCarthy voicing strong support for the bill.

 

In addition to banning corporal punishment in public and private schools that receive federal funds, the bill also establishes a grant program for school-wide positive behavior supports, an evidence-based approach to school discipline which allows schools to proactively target potentially problematic behavior and develop approaches that can improve school climate and academic outcomes by reducing school discipline referrals.

 

“By adopting positive behavior supports and abandoning ineffective and brutal discipline, schools can create environments that encourage academic success rather than hinder it,” said Deborah J. Vagins, ACLU Legislative Counsel. “It’s time that Congress step in to end this arcane and destructive practice so that our schools can be places where students and educators interact in positive ways that foster students’ growth and dignity.”

Related articles by Zemanta

• Corporal Punishment Ban Praised by Secular Coalition for America (secularnewsdaily.com)
• New Bill Seeks to Ban Corporal Punishment in Schools (education.change.org)

Corporal Punishment In Schools - Redux

Image via Wikipedia

It is bad enough that schools consider corporal punishment a viable form of discipline but, where is the outrage by the parents?

Apparently, Memphis thinks if you spare the rod you spoil the child. Let's check-in with Maureen Downey over at AJC.com on. "Why would Memphis or any school system reinstate corporal punishment?"

Related articles by Zemanta

• Tell 'Hot Button': Should MCS restore corporal punishment (commercialappeal.com)
• Educator Pushes for Corporal Punishment (foxnews.com)
• Spanking Still Happens in Public Schools? (No 2 Religion)

Spanking Still Happens in Public Schools?

Image via Wikipedia

Sometimes when I read something I just say WTF? I am pleased to see that a group is trying to reduce corporal punishment in schools. But, excuse me, shouldn't we be trying to eliminate it completely? Honestly, why is this still done at all?

Groups Aim Again to Reduce Spanking in N.C. Schools

By The Associated Press

Raleigh, N.C.

Children's advocates in North Carolina are this year seeking a spanking ban on students with disabilities after losing political tussles over corporal punishment in public schools the past few years.

Equipped with a report showing corporal punishment was used more than 1,400 times in 26 school districts last school year, speakers at a General Assembly education committee asked lawmakers Wednesday to consider a paddling ban for children with physical, mental or learning challenges when they reconvene in Raleigh in May.

There are better and more positive ways for teachers and administrators to deal with these children for their disruptive behavior than hitting them, said Sheri Strickland, president of the North Carolina Association of Educators and a longtime teacher of disabled children, which comprise about 13 percent of the state's public school population.

"I didn't hit my children for not knowing how to read ... and I wasn't going to hit my children for not knowing appropriate behavior," Strickland said. "We know that it's critical to a child's academic success to have positive contact with caring adults."

The new effort comes after the Legislature has declined to approve broader spanking bans. The House rejected in 2007 a statewide prohibition in all 115 school districts as opponents argued current state law should remain in place giving local education boards the choice to decide whether spanking is effective.

The House approved by a wide margin last year a bill giving parents the option of exempting their children from corporal punishment in the district where such a penalty is still carried out, but the Senate narrowly defeated the idea.

Now advocates have scaled back their request.

"That's our limited request to you to consider in this session," Tom Vitaglione, a senior fellow at Action for Children, told legislators.
Thirty states and the District of Columbia have barred corporal punishment in the public schools, according to The Center for Effective Discipline, an Ohio-based group seeking to end the practice.

Data on corporal punishment are hard to accumulate in North Carolina because local districts aren't required to report to the Department of Public Instruction on its use.

Action for Children contacted each school district and found 89 either ban corporal punishment outright or don't use it. Fourteen districts banned the practice in the past three years, the report said.

Of the other 26 districts, the number of times the punishment was administered during the last school year ranged from once in the Randolph County Schools to 325 times in the Burke County Schools. Three county systems — Burke, Nash (296 times) and Robeson (167) — comprised more than half of the punishments, the report said.

Some education oversight committee members expressed shame that North Carolina still allowed corporal punishment.

"To me it is an embarrassment for the state of North Carolina that we continue to participate in this type of behavior," said Rep. Susan Fisher, D-Buncombe.

But others were concerned about endorsing a change when there's no detailed information about whether the children received paddling several times, why students receive the punishment or how many are identified as disabled.

"We need to proceed with caution," said Rep. Laura Wiley, R-Guilford, who supports an outright ban but points out children with a reading disability could dodge punishment even though the difficulty has no connection to poor behavior.

Vitaglione said a U.S. Department of Education report determined students with disabilities received corporal punishment on 290 occasions in 2006 in North Carolina.

Rep. Curtis Blackwood, R-Union, criticized the choice of words in the Action for Children report, which he said was trying to arouse emotions so people would support the change.

Arthur Stellar, who was named Burke County Schools superintendent last fall, said he is personally opposed to corporal punishment and wants to talk to system officials about the policy but mentioned there are other pressing priorities. There also would need to be an alternative punishment model in place and support for the change from parents.
"If they objected that strongly, it would have been gone a long time ago," he said in a phone interview.