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>Corporal punishment in schools today is imposed >differently in different states that allow it and >differently in the same state from school district to >school district. In many states where it is still an >option, parents are allowed to opt their child in or >out by following a procedure usually set out in the >student handbook for the particular school district. > >If parents opt their child in, then, there are various >approaches to imposing the sanction. Some school >districts have a very detailed listing of violations >of school rules that may result in a student receiving >corporal punishment while other districts are less >forthcoming. Some districts contact parents before >imposing corporal punishment, others contact the >parents after the fact. Some school districts send >home a discipline slip with options for discipline set >out and the parents choose the option they prefer and >the punishment is imposed the day after the violation >of school rules. > >In many school districts that employ corporal >punishment in states that allow parents to opt their >child out, there is often a false equivalency of >punishments offered to encourage parents and students >to select corporal punishment. So, it may be that the >parents, on behalf of the child, are offered either >three swats or licks with a paddle or three days >ISS(In school suspension). Many school districts will >make the alternative to corporal punishment extremely >undesirable to coerce parents and students into >choosing the paddling. For example, if the student >takes the offered three swats with the paddle, then, >he or she returns to class after the paddling is >imposed without further penalty. If, on the other >hand, the student and his or her parents choose ISS, >the student is not allowed to make up any work missed >while in ISS and must take zeros for any assignment >missed during ISS. Clearly, these two choices are not >equivalent, but because discipline is considered a >local matter, there is no effective way for most >parents to challenge such a system. > >The Survey: > >I started kindergarten in 1957 and graduated from high >school in 1970. All of the schools that I attended >from kindergarten through high school used corporal >punishment as a default punishment, that is, if you >were disciplined in the schools that I attended, it >nearly always took the form of a spanking or a >paddling. > >In the early grades, some teachers spanked you, which >is to say, put you over their knee and spanked you >with their hand or a paddle. After that, corporal >punishment almost always took the familiar form of the >student having to bend over and receive swats or licks >with a paddle on his or her buttocks. > >There were no choices offered to students in the >schools that I attended. There were sometimes >additional punishments added to the paddling such as, >standing in the corner or writing lines in elementary >school or detention in middle and high school. It is >worth noting that, at the time when I went to school, >parents, almost without exception, accepted the >school’s right to discipline the children in their >care as if the school had the legal status of a >parent. In loco parentis was the order of the time >and, as a result, teachers and administrators often >paddled children without requesting permission of >their parents and often did not notify the parents >that such a disciplinary measure had been taken. >Corporal punishment was considered, effectively, >routine. > >If I had had a choice of alternative punishment, my >choice in elementary school would have been the >alternative. In elementary school, like most children, >I was terrified of the paddle and with good reason. I >certainly got my share of spankings and paddlings at >school and I never had one that didn’t sting like >crazy. Paddlings in elementary school were painful and >humiliating and, at times made you the target of >merciless teasing from other children. Some children >would pretend not to be afraid of the paddle, but >inevitably once they were paddled, they would put >their heads down on their desks and cry. > >In middle school, I would probably have taken the >paddling to prove how tough I was and to show the >teacher or principal that I was not afraid of him. Of >course, I was afraid of a teacher or a principal with >a two foot long paddle in his hand and in middle >school there were more male teachers and male teachers >almost always paddled your butt harder and longer than >female teachers. > >I had an eighth grade social studies teacher who took >particular pleasure in paddling athletic eighth grade >boys. All the boys in his class knew his predilection >for whacking athletes and we had a pretty good notion >why he liked it, but that didn’t prevent him from >marching you out into the hallway on some trumped up >disciplinary complaint and giving you three to five >butt burning licks with his paddle that he referred to >as Old Thunder. Old Thunder had 27 holes drilled in >it’s blade to increase its aerodynamics. Many a >tough guy athlete shed tears after a dose of Old >Thunder. > >Similarly, in high school I would have opted for the >paddling just to get the matter over with. However, in >high school there was a vice principal that did most >of the paddling and no one ever got through one of his >paddlings without a red and purple bruised buttocks. >After the vice principal was done with you, sitting >was a real problem for at least a couple of days. > >JB

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