Corporal Punishment Returns to US School!

The online parenting community is ablaze with debate after a US school announced that they're bringing back corporal punishment!

And what's more... it's actually legal in that state!

A US town in Missouri will be bringing back corporal punishment in its schools after consultations on discipline between teachers, parents and officials. In 2001, physical chastisement was stopped in the district of Cassville, Missouri, but now errant pupils face the prospect of being hit with a wooden paddle. The consultations also led to a banning of mobile phones from classrooms and the creation of an alternative academy for children who struggle to learn in a traditional classroom.

According to the Cassville school district superintendent Merlyn Johnson, parents have been actively asking for this punishment - we can't find any evidence of this though. Johnson was quoted by a local media outlet saying; “Parents have said ‘why can’t you paddle my student?’ There had been requests from parents for us to look into it.”

Why is this corporal punishment policy legal?

In the US, Missouri is actually one of NINETEEN states where corporal punishment is still legal!

Due to the case of James Ingraham in 1977, the US Supreme Court ruled that year that corporal punishment was actually 'constitutional'. A case was brought on behalf of 14-year-old James, at the time a student in Florida. He was paddled more than 20 times as a punishment by his school headmaster while being physically held down by his assistant which led to him needing medical intervention. The claim filed on behalf of James was that the punishment fit the criteria of “cruel and unusual punishment”.

However, the case did not go his way, with the court deciding that corporal punishment was not a violation of the eighth amendment. Their reasoning was that cruel and unusual punishment actually refers to convicted criminals rather than children in a school setting, leading to individual states being given the power to make their own decisions on punishments within schools. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics shows that 70,348 students were given corporal punishment in 2018 across the 19 US states where it is legal.

Is the practice popular or opposed, on the whole?

Many parents and children's rights advocates strongly oppose to corporal punishment, with the American Psychological Association stating that it can be counter productive, potentially causing children to become MORE disruptive. Other research done in the US in 2016 disturbingly shows that corporal punishment was a shocking 50% more likely to be used on African American children and disabled children than white, non-disabled children.

Today, these young people from Cassville, Missouri protested their school's corporal punishment rule. Their organization? "Students Against Abusive Policies."

Let's make sure we give them our full support!✊#BreakTheCycle #BanSchoolPaddling pic.twitter.com/HHHsgtDC3j
— Arkansans Against School Paddling (@BanPaddlingAR) August 29, 2022

Only specific people would be allowed to mete out the punishment in Missouri, and it would be reserved for specific circumstances, usually when other punishment has failed, and there would be a witness from the school district staff team. The punishment would not be done in front of other pupils, and younger students would be given fewer strikes to the buttocks than older students.

Parents in the region were sent a memo which has circulated the internet, being told that; “It shall be administered so that there can be no chance of bodily injury or harm. Striking a student on the head or face is not permitted.” This hasn't served as any form of reassurance for many parents of children in the area - we'll be keeping an eye on this story and if the policy is revoked, we will update you all.

In 1986, corporal punishment was been banned in UK schools, with there being no suggestion that it ever returns - we're sure the vast majority of you will be relieved to know this.

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