School board considers spanking ban

Well, if it's deserved, they can spank my child if they're being bad...and the teachers and my kids both know what being "bad" means. And then, after they get spanked at school, they'll be expecting another one at home. My kids have never needed to be spanked at school. Can you guess why?

Of course corporal punishment should be administered when necessary. If the delay between the misbehaving and the punishment is too long, the positive effect of the corporal punishment is lost. However, knowing when corporal punishment is the best answer is part of the equation. I wouldn't want a stranger with a liberal arts education making that decision when my child is involved.

Has anybody considered that spanking just might lead to better discipline in schools???

The Columbiana School Administration and staff are to be commended for not using corporal punishment. Hitting children with boards doesn't prevent behavior problems or foster learning. Research shows it is just the opposite. Kids brought up in schools with corporal punishment have worse behavior problems, cause more vandalism, are more likely to drop out and have lower scores on national achievement tests than do kids who are brought up with more humane forms of classroom management.

Professional educators in 109 countries, 29 U.S. states and thousands of districts in the remaining 21 states are educating kids just fine without hitting them. We should not be modeling for our children that it is sometimes OK to hit people with whom we are angry.

The Georgia legislature should bring all the state's schools into the new millennium and enact legislation to make Georgia sate #30 to ban. [A ban still allows educators to use physical force to prevent immediate threats of harm to person or property.] Good school discipline is instilled in the mind, not the behind. Go to www.stophitting.org for more info.

patricia...thats why it will not work, your allready saying when & when not. When I was a child I got spanked at school & when my mom & dad found out? They said good, it's never going to work when you start implementing everyones when's? It will never work again, most parents don't know anything about displine themselves. Their displine is..don't do that...don't do that..My dad never told me anything twice. I still say yes sir, yes mam to everyone. I've never been in trouble with the law for the same reason. Displine, the fear of what will happen when you don't follow the rules. The majority of kids today don't fear anything & thats the problem. FEAR keeps you in line through your entire life.

It can be abused by the teachers that are not properly trained to discipline the children..

Perhaps they should put a set of stocks out in from of the school and display the parents there when the student misbehaves.

Over 80% of parents still spank. Child behavioral professionals are about evenly split on it's use. It's effectiveness is determined by the child. My parents spanked and my school did as well. I frequently told my father that I carefully weighed many choices. If I thought the act was worthy of a paddling, I enjoyed the act. I did the same at school. This didn't win me any friends at the time, but it did teach me to weigh my options & to do what I thought was worthy. Some children are scarred by it and some learn by it. It is our job as parents to learn what works for our kids.

Let's think about "Dr." Fathman's argument here: "Kids brought up in schools with corporal punishment have worse behavior problems, cause more vandalism, are more likely to drop out and have lower scores on national achievement tests than do kids who are brought up with more humane forms of classroom management." In the first place, there is a gross generalization here. He is saying "ALL CHILDREN" in schools with corporal punishment grow up with bad behavior traits, and by implication he is saying that JUST HAVING corporal punishment in the school creates this bad behavior, whether any individual child was spanked or not. No causality is established in his post. It's illogical and is not backed up with anything.

Now if he were to say that children ACTUALLY SPANKED in school demonstrated more anti-social behavior than children not spanked, I might agree. But I doubt that the spanking causes the anti-social behavior. Rather, it's the other way around.

spare the rod...spoil the child. i would like to see the stats on underage crimes since schools stopped letting teachers spank kids. without fear there is no discipline

I think the proof of what works speaks for itself. Us baby boomers got our butts whipped. How many of us went to school with a gun & killed others? These doctors that think they are so smart, they are actually part of the problem. I would like to hear what they think the deciding factor that makes kids kill today. If it's not enough displine, what is it? Our babyboomer generation did not kill at school & the one thing we all had in common was geting our butt whiped..REAL DISPLINE

Dr. Fathman, You are wrong. I was spanked ONE TIME in school. That's all it took. I went on to graduate in the top 20 of my hgh school class. I went to college. I went to graduate school. I am now a fine upstanding member of our community. I pay high taxes. I pledge allegiance to the flag of our country. But, most importantly, I give thanks to God for all that he has blessed me with. That spanking did not hurt me. It helped me and I remember it to this very day. Quite frankly, we would all be better off if two organizations would stop telling us how to manage our kids: The American Psychiatric Association and The American Board of Pediatrics. They tell us "Oh, no, don't spank Junior or you are a bad parent. Then they tell us to give our little boys prescription medications such as Ritalin to "help them focus" (i.e. behave in a non-disruptive manner - they're boys! They're going to behave like little boys!). Every time that they re-define a medical "condition", they seem to include more and more of our kids - especially the young boys. Dr. Fathman, You are soooooo wrong!

Right on politcallyincorrect, right on!

Who is ever properly trained to disipline children? Is there a course when you have a baby, most people should have to take a course before than can even have a child but we don't require that.... but when I grew up teachers could spank a bad or disruptive student I think that is the major problem with our children today. Dr. Fathman where did you get your Phd?

I believe in disciplining a child with spanking, when needed. But it is my responsiblity to deliver that punishment; not a teacher or a principal. Too often parents want educators to do their jobs for them. No one should have the right to physically discipline my child but me.

The horrible thing about corporal punishment in schools is that some in authority will use spanking to punish the kids they don't have a particular affinity for, while allowing others committing the same infraction will get no punishment at all. Inevitably, the person in authority will have many people attesting to the fact that they are " a wonderful person and would never inappropriately spank a child." I also received one spanking during my school years. I can attest to the fact that there were others who committed the same act and never even got a slap on the wrist- it was simply not acknowledged that they had done any wrong. It wasn't a fair system 30 years ago, and it won't be any fairer now.

Spare the rod and spoil the child. Kids today have no respect for rules. I am 69 yrs old and the schools always used paddles to correct an unruly child, this was usually done by the principal. I don't know of any one I went to school with that was ruined by being paddled. I agree the ultimate responsibility begins at home, but the teachers need a way to correct the unruly children.

When I was in middle school in the 80's I got spanked for protecting myself after some guy grabbed me in the crotch (I slammed him on the ground). My parents always taught me to protect myself. I wasn't sent to the office - I was told that since I was "involved" that I was going to get spanked. I shouldn't have been punished and I was a good student/child. It is creepy to think how that gym teacher probably got off spanking girls. I believe in spanking but only by the parent and for misbehavior. I think spanking should have never been in the school in the first place.

I think spanking works but based on all of those horny folks that now teach school maybe we should be concerned about teachers getting their rocks off spanking children

Coach Barnett kept many kids under control in Thomson High School in the 80's. Hearing the "whap" through the hallways kept many of us from doing things that we knew would cause our butts to be the "sounding board." If mom and dad say it's okay, go for it. You have to remember, there has to be written consent beofre the kid is paddled in Columbia County. Bring it back and see what happens to the discipline reports.

The kids that are bad are the ones that probably will have parents who refuse to sign the permission slip. If they don't do it at home, why would then want it done at school? I don't believe there were permission slips in my day - people weren't as sue happy back then.

If anyone is going to hit my child, it will be me and no other--and I don't care what that other individual's position in society is. Hitting is a violent act; spanking teaches children it's okay to hit someone. Discipline does not include spanking, but offers alternative methods to teach children socially acceptable behaviors. Parents do not discipline their children, but do give in to the child's demands; teachers do the same. That's why family life classes should be taught in our schools. Family life classes include how to budget, get a job, why insurance is important, how to get along with one another, and parenting. Most folks don't want these type of classes in our schools because they don't think this type of education is important--well, it is. Many young parents don't discipline because they were never taught, but they do know how to slap, kick, and 'spank' a child.

There are a million and one "sensitive" reasons why we should not spank kids in school. These will eventually be brought forward as reasons to prevent parents from spanking at home. Just another part of societal breakdown. But, let not your hearts be troubled - Hope and Change are coming.

Mable8: Case in point for my arguement: Mable proposes sensitivity classes for families. Who will decide what type of sensitivity will be taught? Who will be told they have to go? What consequences if you refuse to go? Hitting IS a violent act. Spanking is NOT!!!!! Spanking does not teach children that hitting is okay. Get your head out of that outdated Dr. Spock book and into reality!!!!

I remember a class clown in 5th grade. He was caught every week talking or chewing gum, or not doing his homework. The teacher would make him bend over a chair and then she would spank him in front of the class. Almost everytime that paddle hit his butt, he would "play Dixie". For you who don't know what that is, he would break wind. Then the teacher woould make him stand outside in the hall so others could see that he was in trouble.

I don't believe in spanking. I have a child that is in the top 1% of students in the country, headed to a great college and very invovled in school and at church. If I don't spank my child no one else can either. She has been a great kid growing up!

"oh no...my poor baby." give me a break. I was spanked at school and deserved it every time. Your child must deserve it too.

Galaxygrl: Congratulations. I'm not worried about how the top 1% turns out. Someone must lead the sheep. I'm worried about the bottom half.

TomCat: LIFE can be harmful. Coddling and raising a sensitive child does not prepare them for anything in life other than disappointment and failure. Hitting is violence. Spanking is not violence.