"I think we need more corporal punishment, both in the school, and at home," a commenter says. Tulsa World photo illustration
Grab your ankles -- the spanking blog is back
Published: 9/25/2012 3:20 PM
Last Modified: 9/25/2012 3:20 PM
Let the spankings begin.
That's the reader response to my blog on corporal punishment in schools: Spanking students is a divisive issue.
From casual acquaintances to Facebook friends and from newsroom callers to online commenters, the consensus seems to be that not only is paddling students a valid form of discipline, it's an underutilized one.
"There are some things you do need your butt whooped for," said one friend who is a part-time substitute teacher. He's never paddled a student but says he's met a few who deserved it.
A 75-year-old caller from Sand Springs told me he still remembers getting swats in school and the impression that it made on him to clean up his act.
"I'm all for it," he said. "If you want to get their attention, sometimes talking won't do it."
On Facebook, a friend says: "'Time out' and giving time for the child to 'think' about what they've done does just that, time to plot the next mischievous deed. Judicial spanking can be the most effective discipline for young children at the proper time."
On my blog, The truth shall set you free said: "In my day, if you got into trouble at school, you got paddled there, then got a lickin with the belt when I returned home. I grew up just fine. I think we need more corporal punishment, both in the school, and at home."
One caller who left me a voicemail was a former longtime suburban school principal. He noted that there's an age gap in the opinion on corporal punishment in schools. The older you are, the more acceptable it is, he said. He called spanking "a short-term solution."
He said he did appreciate having the option -- with the support of parents -- to paddle students as a matter of discipline. "Right or wrong, good or bad -- I don't know that there's a solution for every kid, but I don't know that it's a bad solution sometimes."
I wanted to hear from more teachers, so I turned to a couple of friends who are veteran educators for their opinion.
"As an early childhood professional, I feel that paddling/spanking has absolutely no place in the public schools," said a longtime prekindergarten teacher.
"Spanking is a temporary fix to many typical childhood problems and breeds fear and distrust in child-adult relationships. Natural consequences and plenty of home-school communication are often enough to correct most children. ... The exceptions may need professional intervention."
She goes on to say that as the mother of four boys, she has on occasion spanked her children. "I think with discussion and explanation, sometimes a spanking is one way to deal with some problems at home," she added.
Another friend described the changes she has seen through her years in public education as a teacher and administrator.
"As an educator I have come full circle in terms of how I view the use of this type of punishment. When I began my career 26 years ago in Tulsa Public, the district used this as a method of discipline, and as a classroom teacher I did, too," she said. "We, as educators and perhaps even as a society, did not 'know better,' so to speak.
"I liken it to the way I taught then, using curriculum and methods considered best practices. Of course we don't teach the same way, so it makes sense that we don't discipline the same way."
She added, "I do believe it sends a horribly mixed message when any person physically hurts another person to punish them."
But I think this part of her comment is what resonated most with me: "We know now that establishing relationships and connecting to students is critical, so we devote more time and attention to this as well as other means of disciplining, redirecting students, finding replacement behaviors that are acceptable, removing privileges, etc."
Discipline doesn't begin and end at schools. It begins and ends with parents.
I don't spank my children at home (although I admit I have once or twice when they were much younger). I find other consequences hold much greater sway these days: from timeouts for minor issues to taking away electronic devices (iPods, Nintendo DS), TV privileges or other activities for more serious infractions.
I would think that the same holds true with teachers -- without paddling, they have figured out other ways to instill discipline in their classrooms. It's not always perfect and all students don't respond appropriately, but hasn't it always been that way?
Without a good example at home, paddling is just a short-term solution to a long-term problem.
Written by
Colleen Almeida Smith
Staff Writer
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