Education Secretary King calls for end to paddling students
ASSOCIATED PRESS
In this July 19, 2016, file photo, Education Secretary John B. King, Jr., speaks on a panel with first lady Michelle Obama to college-bound students participating in the Reach Higher initiative’s third annual Beating the Odds event in the East Room of the White House in Washington. King is urging governors and school leaders in states where student paddling is allowed to end a practice he said would be considered “criminal assault or battery” against an adult.
Buffalo, N.Y. » Education Secretary John B. King Jr. is urging governors and school leaders in states that allow student paddling to end a practice he said would be considered “criminal assault or battery” against an adult.
King released a letter Tuesday asking leaders to replace corporal punishment with less punitive, more supportive disciplinary practices that he said work better against bad behavior.
More than 110,000 students, including disproportionate numbers of black and disabled students, were subjected to paddling or a similar punishment in the 2013-14 school year, said King, citing the Education Department’s Civil Rights Data Collection.
Corporal punishment is legal in 22 states.
“The practice has been clearly and repeatedly linked to negative health and academic outcomes for students,” King said during a conference call with reporters. “It is opposed by parent organizations, teachers unions, medical and mental health professionals and civil rights advocates as a wholly inappropriate means of school discipline.”
Coming toward the end of President Barack Obama’s term, the push to end corporal punishment builds on the administration’s “Rethink Discipline” campaign to create safe and supportive school climates, King said. It also lines up with Obama’s “My Brother’s Keeper” initiative, meant to address persistent opportunity gaps facing boys and young men of color, he said.
Don't miss out on what's happening!
Stay in touch with top news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It's FREE!
Eighty organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, NAACP, Association of University Centers on Disabilities and American Federation of Teachers, signed an open letter released by the National Women’s Law Center supporting an end to the practice. Students are regularly paddled for minor or subjective infractions like dress code violations, cellphone use or disrespecting staff, the letter said.
“Corporal punishment of adults has been banned in prisons and in military training facilities, and it’s time we do the same for our nation’s schoolchildren,” said Fatima Goss Graves of the Women’s Law Center.
Although its use has been diminishing, there are corners of the country where corporal punishment remains deeply woven into culture and tradition. School administrators say it has broad support from parents and preserves learning time that would be lost to a suspension.
Fifteen states expressly permit corporal punishment: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming. In seven states, there is no state law prohibiting it. They are: Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, New Hampshire and South Dakota.
“There are better, smarter ways to achieve safe and supportive school environment,” King said, adding that the education law passed late last year supports using funding for positive intervention and supports.
President-elect Donald Trump has not yet announced his choice for education secretary. He met last week with Michelle Rhee, a former chancellor of the District of Columbia schools.
“It doesn’t actually matter who the secretary of education is or what people’s view is about the election,” AFT President Randi Weingarten said on the call with King. “This is a moral matter …. We must all be about safe and welcoming places for all students.”
15 responses to “Education Secretary King calls for end to paddling students”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Spare the rod and spoil the child.
Spare the AK and spoil the adult.
The current president elect could have used some corporal punishment. Maybe he would not be so rude and would not make bigoted comments, insult women, and insult the disabled.
Quite the opposite. His current behavior suggests the use of corporal punishment as the possible source of that behavior. Sadly, it may be that the actions we take (corporal punishment) to prevent anti-social behavior may in fact be the cause of it.
Hard to believe any state would still allow this barbarism. Parents should never permit it. I would never use such tactics in my classes.
This is why kids are disrespectful and spoiled brats now. When I was a kid this kept me in line.Never had to get paddled though. There was no disrespect of teachers and authority.Now a days if a parents spanks( not beats) their own child the kid threatens to child services.
Punishment!, always thought it was considerd “corrective measures “. Made me not want to do it again..
I agree, the only thing that will keep people in line is fear of punishment not psychobabble.
So, does that mean that the only thing that keeps you in line is fear of punishment?
YOU all know MONEY talks! right? Tell me a kid who don’t know what gifts/money is all about. Come on now, I even use Santa on our 5 year old today. hahahahaha
This is a tough one. imo, using the stick, belt, etc. for punishment teaches young ones physical violence. There may be other ways to punish kids without using physical teachings li dat. Send the kid home for the parents to deal with the problem, it starts at home as kids are probably mimicking things going on at home.
using physical violence may reinforce the use of physical force when you don’t get your way or wanting something in your way. Remember, once a Wife Beater, always a wife Beater!
I agree with you completely. This is one of the reasons that corporal punishment has been forbidden in Hawaii Public Schools for many years. Research indicates and my experience as a child in a state that did allow it at the time, that it is also not effective in a school setting.
One thing’s abundantly clear in those states “that expressly permit it” — paddling shore hain’t done a daggone thing t’reduce inbreedin’.
…and they left me out there with nothing but a paddle.