City Revives Paddling, sees major improvement in Behavior

A Texas City recently voted to revive corporal punishment and has noted a dramatic improvement in the behavior of the children since that time despite the fact that only one child has actually been paddled.

By Michael Birnbaum
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 16, 2010

TEMPLE, TEX. -- In an era when students talk back to teachers, skip class and wear ever-more-risque clothing to school, one central Texas city has hit upon a deceptively simple solution: Bring back the paddle.

Most school districts across the country banned paddling of students long ago. Texas sat that trend out. Nearly a quarter of the estimated 225,000 students who received corporal punishment nationwide in 2006, the latest figures available, were from the Lone Star State.

But even by Texas standards, Temple is unusual. The city, a compact railroad hub of 60,000 people, banned the practice and then revived it at the demand of parents who longed for the orderly schools of yesteryear. Without paddling, "there were no consequences for kids," said Steve Wright, who runs a construction business and is Temple's school board president.

Since paddling was brought back to the city's 14 schools by a unanimous board vote in May, behavior at Temple's single high school has changed dramatically, Wright said, even though only one student in the school system has been paddled.

"The discipline problem is much better than it's been in years," Wright said, something he attributed to the new punishment and to other discipline programs schools are trying. Residents of the city's comfortable homes, most of which sport neighborly, worn chairs out front, praise the change.

"There are times when maybe a good crack might not be a bad idea," said Robert Pippin, a custom home builder who sports a goatee and cowboy boots. His son graduated from Temple schools several years ago.

Corporal punishment remains legal in 20 states, mostly in the South, but its use is diminishing. Ohio ended it last year, and a movement for a federal ban is afoot. A House subcommittee held a hearing on the practice Thursday, and its chairman, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.), is gearing up for a push to end the practice once and for all. She plans to introduce legislation within weeks. ​

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/15/AR2010041505964.html
You've got to love Texas.

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Let them try to do this in early 1990s Compton, the teacher would get murdered.
This shit works well with punks.
But won't work very well with real niggas.

 

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yes, just what you want to teach people, that assult and battery are acceptable. Wonder what will happen when the Civil liberties groups take this to the supreem court to challange it based on the grounds of "cruel and unsual punishment". After all beating for the sake of "punishment" are banned in adult disipline so why would they be any less cruel against children

 

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There's no way our current Supreme Court would ban spanking. Spanking, while a bit unusual at school these days (but not when I was a kid), is still very widely practiced at homes throughout the nation. So I can't see who it would be considered either cruel or unusual.

Kids need to be disabused of the idea that no adult will dare even to touch them no matter what the provocation. You can't teach if you can't maintain order. You can't maintain order if the kids don't respect you. Without the threat of physical violence and the humiliation it entails, some kids will never respect you.

Those are the ones that need it the most. If they try to attack the teacher/principle in response; put them in jail. Either way, they won't be causing trouble in class anymore.

 

Actually, I hate the idea of schools spanking. Parents should do the disciplining. Cities should be able to issue fines and send the parents to jail for not disciplining their children. Hit them where it hurts: their pocket book. Watch children improve.

~String

 

And then 30 years later there is more spouse battering, child abuse, serial killers, people who do not question authority when they should, the rise of local fascism, people afraid to make choices to do what they like, bitter people, police brutality and people sticking to lives and jobs and spouses that do not really make them happy.

When are you people going to learn.

you've got to hate that facet of Texas.

 

There are fines for everything as it is. And it doesn't work very well. You just made the same justification that is used for spanking.

The government has No Business fining private citizens for how they discipline their children in any event.

 

Have all those things decreased as spanking in public schools has become less common?

 

No, once the 50s created the 60s through all its anal control and fake smiles the whole things a mess. But for some reason people want to recreate the 50s. Guess what the next 60s THAT would create would be like.

 

I'm not sure I like this move so much. Don't get me wrong: children should be properly disciplined, but I'm not sure if violence is the best way to do it. Wouldn't that teach them that violence is an acceptable response?

 

ah, Norsefire. A breath of fresh air. I believe it does. and it teaches people that violence is the way to communicate and work through disagreements.

 

While I don't think children should be spanked by anyone besides their parents, I don't think the lesson really lies in violence. More often than not being spanked doesn't really hurt all that much (it is no where near comparable to being punched in the face and if does hurt that much then a line has been crossed), it's the humiliation that keeps kids in line. My Chinese teacher once told us about getting spanked when he was in school, he said the paddle just made a loud noise it didn't really hurt, but he said going up in front of the class was really embarrassing.

When I was in 8th grade I was in a classroom full of kids who had recently got out of Juvenile Hall or were known troublemakers, no substitute teacher could handle the class. They would all quit by noon. Our teacher handled the class very effectively simply by humiliating his bad students all of time. By making fun of them all of the time they constantly were on guard about what they said and how they acted in class, because if they did something stupid he wouldn't let them hear the end of it. Would it be considered mean? Yeah probably, but it worked very well. I remember some parents complained about his method, but since no one else could even come close to controlling the class and the parents had no helpful suggestions so the school did nothing.

 

Should we paddle adults if embarrassing homo sapians is a good idea/pedagogy/lesson/punishment?

 

Why is Texas so fucked up?

 

Because so many of them believe in corporal punishment for kids. It's a chicken and egg thing, I suppose, but the beatings and the way Texas is are tied together.

 

Maybe CPS should get called and their kids taken into Custody or placed in Foster Care.

Oh, wait... That already happens.

 

At what point does disciplining children become the business of the state? (if ever, in your opinion)