The stimulus package winding through Congress has lots of money for education. Reports indicate that most funds would go to economically depressed districts struggling to meet desired education outcomes.
Are lawmakers throwing money at education programs using worn out, unsupported practices like corporal punishment? Probably so, and they could do something about it. They could tie education funding to ending practices like corporal punishment.
Twenty-one states still allow educators to hit children with boards as punishment for breaking school rules. It’s an antiquated and barbaric practice that sometimes leads to injuries requiring medical care and hospitalization. It is not supported by research and has been condemned by more than 50 national child/family-serving professional organizations like the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Education Association, the American Bar Association and the American Psychological Association.
More than a quarter of a million school children are paddled annually according to the U.S. Department of Education in its latest survey. Children paddled most frequently are poor, minorities, children with disabilities and boys.
Where is most of the paddling done? The paddle swings most often in states with poor education outcomes – low achievement levels, high dropout rates, and poor graduation rates. These are the education programs which are most likely to see increased funding to help them improve education outcomes.
Every education program imposes conditions on how schools use money. The government prohibits physical punishment to train animals under the Animal Welfare Act, the Horse Protection Act and other laws. Don’t school children deserve protection from being hit with boards?
Tying corporal punishment bans to federal funding would end the practice.
Nadine Block, Executive Director of the Center for Effective Discipline and co-chair of EPOCH-USA
155 W. Main Street #1603, Columbus, OH 43215
(614) 221-8829 info@stophitting.org
www.stophitting.org corporal punishment laws, status of use, effects, and alternatives
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