American schoolchildren were allowed to flog: the initiative belonged to the parents

If guns are the last word of kings, then whipping is the last word of teachers. Apparently, representatives of one of the school districts in the US state of Missouri were guided by this consideration – they decided to restore corporal punishment of negligent students. The most surprising thing is that the initiators of the spanking were parents concerned about the discipline of their children.

Spanking students as a “last resort” restores the school district of Cassville (Missouri). Local officials say a survey last year showed parents’ main concern was “additional disciplinary action.”

As writes The Guardiana Missouri school district with 1,900 students, has decided to reinstate corporal punishment in its classrooms by allowing students to punish with a paddle or paddle-shaped cane in accordance with the new policy.

The School Board approved the policy in June and notified parents that the Cassville School District was bringing back spanking as a disciplinary measure that the district removed in 2001.

Merlin Johnson, principal at Cassville, said the change in corporal punishment policy came after a survey sent to parents last year showed they wanted more discipline from their children, a major concern.

“The complaints we’ve heard from some of our parents is that they don’t want their students to be suspended. They need another option,” Director Johnson told The Hill. “So, this is just another option that we could use.”

The administration of the school will use corporal punishment as a “last resort” unless other disciplinary measures work. At the same time, according to Merlin Johnson, the punishment will be applied only in a reasonable form and on the recommendation of the director.

Parents who want their children to be beaten can sign the consent form provided by the school office. Johnson says it is still unclear to him how many parents will be allowed to hit their children. The relevant forms were sent out on Wednesday during the open day, and now the director is waiting for a response.

According to Johnson, his parents asked him, “Why can’t you kick your student?” to which he replied that school policy did not support such a measure. “There were conversations with the parents, and they asked us to look into this,” he said.

Corporal punishment in a school district may only be administered by the principal and in the presence of a witness. Johnson said the punishment would never be carried out in front of other students.

The teacher or principal must also send a report to the district superintendent explaining the reasons for the punishment.

“When it becomes necessary to use corporal punishment, it must be applied in such a way as to exclude the possibility of injury or harm. It is not allowed to hit a student in the head or face, ”says the rules, which the Springfield News-Leader read. The only punishment allowed is to “slap the paddle on the buttocks.”

Johnson said elementary students could face “one or two” slaps, while high school students could get up to three.

The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association warn that corporal punishment can cause academic, emotional and behavioral problems in schoolchildren. A 2016 Journal of Family Psychology study found that spanking increased children’s risk of aggression and antisocial behavior.

And as Elizabeth T. Gershoff and Sarah A. Font wrote in their 2016 study on corporal punishment, “in any other context, the act of an adult hitting another person with a plank … would be considered assault with a weapon and punishable under criminal law.”

Nevertheless, the United States, along with Australia (more precisely, with the Australian state of Cleveland), remains one of the two countries in the Western world where spanking in schools is not formally prohibited.

As The Washington Post notes, corporal punishment is not new in American schools. For centuries, schoolchildren have been whipped or beaten with rulers and paddles. In 1867, New Jersey became the first state to ban the practice in public schools, but it was over 100 years before other states followed suit. However, in 1977, the US Supreme Court ruled that corporal punishment in schools was constitutional and left it up to the states to enforce it. Currently, 19 US states (most of them in the South) still formally allow corporal punishment. Spanking of private school students is practiced in 15 states.

In schools in the United States, corporal punishment takes the form of a school teacher or administrator hitting a student on the buttocks with a wooden spatula.