Breauna Hale

Research & Reflection Paper

Topic: Corporal Punishment in Schools

Due: November 20, 2013

According to the article titled Corporal Punishment in U.S. Schools: A Continuing Challenge for Social Workers, corporal punishment is defined as physical pain inflicted on the body of a child, as a penalty for disapproved behavior.(Dupper & Dingus; p. 243) This infliction of physical injury can range anywhere from flogging to beating. The definition of this term from this article can show cruel intentions, so why is this system still taking place in schools today? When starting research on this topic, it was not clear to me that this form of punishment was actually still legal today. Initially, I was interested in this topic because of my own experience of abuse in school in the nineties, and a recent incident I observed inside of an elementary school. To my surprise, I learned from research that not much has changed over the course of many years. Child abuse is an illegal, but inside the schools it continues to happen. As of today, nineteen states, including Georgia, have yet to ban corporal punishment in their schools. (timesfreepress, 2013) As a law that was passed in the late seventies, this should be reevaluated and abolished today. Looking at the history of this law, the prevalence of it today, and the affects it seems to have on children, it will become clear that this is a law that is neither wanted nor needed in 2013. Loco Parentis is a term that was coined during the Victorian era, which meant in position or place of the parent. (Dupper & Dingus; p. 244) This term can be viewed as the beginning of what is now known as corporal punishment because it legally gave principals and teachers the same role as a parent over children when they were in school. The saying spare the rod, spoil the child, was very much used inside my own household, so similarly, parents of a less progressed time lived by this code noted by a scripture in the Holy Bible. I imagine that because this term was so important to the parents of that time that they didnt think anything of a principal or teacher paddling or whooping their children. In fact, in Dupper and Dinguss article,
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it was indicated that the parents thought that the discipline of their children in school would result in an overall better behavior and future for their children, and they viewed this form of correction within the school as excellent. (Dupper & Dingus; p. 244) This system over time continued, and didnt have a major issue worthy enough of the attention of the supreme court until decades later. In the 1970 school year, a student named James Ingraham was brought to the principals office to be punished for the alleged trouble that he had gotten into inside the classroom. The student received a beating with a wooden paddle, being struck over twenty times. The beating was so severe that the students doctor advised him to stay out of school to heal from the beating. (4lawschool, 430 U.S. 651) The case went to the U.S. Supreme Court and it was found in 1977 that corporal punishment in schools was lawful. (4lawschool, 430 U.S. 651) This case denied students the justice that they deserve and allowed the abuse of children to be justified. Although denied by the Supreme Court, the Eighth amendment could be viewed as being broken by students being beaten because beating a child for acting out in class is definitely cruel and unusual punishment. A poll taken in 1985 revealed that forty seven percent of the American population and sixty percent of school officials supported corporal punishment. (Journal of Adolescence Health 2003; 32 p. 387) If more than half of the population, twenty eight years ago, disagreed with this form of punishment, it should not still be allowed in our school systems today. Today, in schools of states that allow so, paddling still happens. About 15,000 students request medical treatment each year following acts of corporal punishment. (Dupper & Dingus; p. 243) Also, according to the corpun website, there were about 223,000 incidents of corporal punishment in the 05-06 school year. (corpun,2013) These facts reveal to parents the realness of this issue in schools. In February, a Muscogee County mother, who previously did not go against
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corporal punishment, made a choice to allow her daughter to receive three strikes with a paddle for bullying a fellow male student. As a result, the girl was rushed to the hospital and diagnosed with soft tissue damage in her buttocks. The girl missed five days of school. (Ledger-Enquirer 2013) The act of hitting a student only three times could result in such damage that student has to stay out of school for a whole week, which is ridiculous. According to my reading in the LedgerEnquirer, the girl could also have received three days of suspension, which would have provided her with two more days in school than the paddling did. Another reason that this system should be banished today is because it is prevalent with special needs, disabilities and black students. According to CNN, students with mental or physical disabilities are more likely to receive corporal punishment, and black students are 1.4 times more likely to receive corporal punishment. (CNN, 2008) It is shown by these facts presented by CNN that corporal punishment is unfairly distributed and can be given strictly based on a principal or teachers personal feelings towards the student. The many reports I read of student abuse seems to be very prehistoric. This form of punishment should have only been accepted in times when our nation was not as developed. The children, already forced into oppression by the setup of the school system, are pushed in even further by the ability of their oppressors to physically violate them. When found in trouble they are forced to take a paddle to their bare bottom. With no ability to fight back these students are helpless and should be able to depend on the legal system for protection. Supporters of corporal punishment believe that it makes children better controlled, makes them learn to appreciate authority, helps them develop better social skills, have an improved moral character, and learn to have self-discipline. (Journal of Adolescence Health 2003; 32 p. 387) On the other hand, those who oppose corporal punishment state that there is no evidence that corporal punishment
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produces positive behaviors and researchers claim that using violence to discipline children encourages them to use violence in efforts to control peers. (Grayson, 2006 p.12) There are many implications on both parts of the affects that is has. It has been presented that the effects of corporal punishment can be very harmful to students. Dupper and Dingus stated in their journal that PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, has been linked to excessive corporal punishment. PTSD is a serious disorder could challenge a person throughout their life. A child could be given this disorder as a result of something that can be stopped. Also, it has been found that students who are paddled could be less likely to graduate from high school. Darryl Meece stated that children who are more likely to be victims of corporal punishment, black students and students of low socioeconomic status, are already high risk and that this leads them to being less likely than others to graduate. (timesfreepress, 2013) The graduation rate for minorities and children of low socioeconomic status is already low, and there shouldnt be another factor adding on to this slump. Corporal punishment causes lifelong mental problems, effects education, and creates a bad work space for students because they are learning to use their aggression in physical ways by watching the adults around them. In What Does it Mean to be Well Educated, Alfie Kohn discusses how when something happens with a student within the school, like a fight or shooting, no one blame or looks at the education system. (Kohn, p.118) The system should be the first thing looked at in such cases, and the system needs to be reviewed when looking at the level of fights, crime, and drop outs in schools today. Children, even from birth learn everything they know by observing others, so observing abuse will cause them to also hit and fight when they feel someone has done something wrong towards them. There has been no evidence that corporal punishment is effective. As stated in the article The Other Side of School Violence, Educator victimization of students, often in the name of get
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tough discipline, is an important aspect of the school violence problem that is little recognized, hardly researched, and receives limited attention, funding, or programmatic concern.(Hyman, Perone 1998) Corporal punishment has only been shown to add problems to the school environment. If there is only evidence that it is harmful to students then it should be thrown out of schools and never be brought up again. Reviewing the history of this system, dating back to the Victorian Era can clearly show how out dated this system is. Also, reviewing the cases today of children who have been sent to the hospital with bruises and tissue damage, show how this system is physically damaging to students. And lastly, reviewing the mental affects that this system has on students mind and behavior shows the negative example that it sets for children in schools today. Students education shouldnt be interrupted by a beating. Hearing of the pain caused to children, and of the possible pain that can be caused, this problem in the education system should hit close to home for every person in the education system who claims to have a passion for working with children. The school officials have no right to cause harm to children. As educators it is our job to help children, teach them how to be responsible, and make good decisions. The last thing on a teachers or principals mind should be breaking out a wooden paddle. In a class discussion, the question was asked, what will be and effective form of discipline inside the school, and as future teachers, I feel that the entire class should agree that corporal punishment isnt the answer. There are other effective ways to discipline students, such as time out, missing recess, in school suspension, or out of school suspension. With these sorts of punishments, students will learn that there will be consequences for bad behavior, but they will also see that violence isnt the answer in any case. Anything is better than using violence to cause pain to children. Let children learn from positive examples and never go for corporal punishment.

References: Ad Hoc Corporal Punishment Committee (2003). Corporal Punishment in Schools: Position Paper. Journal of Adolescent Health. Volume 32.(issue 5) p. 385-393 Dupper, D., Dingus, M. (2008). Corporal Punishment in U.S. Public Schools: A Continuing Challenge for Social Workers. Children and Schools. Volume 30(issue 4). p. 243-248

Grayson, J. (2006). Corporal Punishment in Schools. Virginia Child Protection Newsletter. Volume 76. p.12-14 Hyman, I., Perone, D. (1998) The Other Side of School Violence: Educator Policies and Practices That May Contribute to Student Misbehavior. Journal of School Psychology. Volume 36 (issue 1). p. 7-27

Kohn, Alfie. (2004). What Does it Mean to be Well Educated?. Boston, MA. Beacon Press

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2013/oct/20/spare-the-rod-spoil-the-student19states-still/ http://www.4lawschool.com/case-briefs/ingraham-v-wright

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2013/04/13/2463267/punishing-debate-mom-saysdaughter.html http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/08/20/corporal.punishment/