Swats. Licks. Paddlings. Spankings.
For many of people, corporal punishment was a routine part of their school years. So when we ran a story about it in the paper recently (
Mother of paddled Cordell student files police report), I was curious to read the comments.
Reader reaction ranged from "Busting their fanny works better any day than 'detention'" to "Hitting the kid with a board isn't going to correct that behavior."
I don't spank my daughters at home, and I wouldn't want them to get paddled at school. My husband, however, feels differently.
"If that's the policy they have at school, I wouldn't have a problem with it," he said when I asked.
Did he ever get swats at school?
"Sure," he said with a laugh, as if to say, "Didn't everyone?"
I was intrigued, so I asked him how my times he'd gotten licks.
"More than three, less than six."
What were the paddlings for?
"Hmmm. I don't remember specifically -- probably talking while the teacher was talking. But I remember being paddled by the shop teacher ...," he said, launching into a reminiscence of the metal shop teacher's paddle with the holes drilled into it, supposedly to allow the steam to escape.
I can remember getting detention or having to write sentences for talking while the teacher was talking, but I never got a spanking at school for it. (On the other hand, back-talking my parents did earn me a meeting or two with my dad's belt.)
I don't have to worry about my girls getting paddled at school. The Tulsa Public Schools Behavior Response Plan 2012-13 says: "Corporal punishment is prohibited. No student will be subject to corporal punishment by teachers, administrators, students, or other school personnel." (
Read the Behavior Response Plan in the Parent Guide here.)
Oklahoma is one of 19 states in which school districts can decide whether they will allow corporal punishment, according to a bill filed in Congress. U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, a New York Democrat, introduced the Ending Corporal Punishment in Schools Act last year.
Find more about the bill here. It remains in committee and has little chance of being passed.
According to statistics cited by McCarthy, more than 200,000 students receive corporal punishment every year, and most of the states that allow it are in the South or the West.
I think the topic of corporal punishment is interesting because there is such a wide range of opinions on the subject -- even within my own household. What do you think? Do you have kids in school? Should Oklahoma continue to allow corporal punishment or should it be outlawed across the United States?
