Monday
May042009
A Paddling Success Story?
Justin Bathon on Monday, May 4, 2009 at 10:48AM Check this one out and decide for yourself. A principal in South Carolina has taken to "whippen" kids to restore order in the school -- and it has worked to the benefit of his school achievement scores.
You can decide for yourself on this one, but it really depends on the definition of success, doesn't it. A scared school doesn't necessarily strike me as a successful school, no matter what the test scores say. We have made a lot of progress over the past few decades in phasing out corporeal punishment and I would really hate to see young principals start picking it back up because they feel like they have no other options to get test scores up.
Reader Comments (3)
Reading this article took me back to my days in private school in New York. The teachers at the school would paddle us in the palm our hands with a wooden paddle wrapped with duct tape. I am on the fence about this one. On one hand I feel students should be disciplined but on the other hand I think "whippens" are out of order. I don't think students should be fearful coming to school. I think there are other ways the principal could have maintained order at the school such as Positive Behavior interventions, incentives for good behavior, etc. I understand that corporal punishment is still acceptable in SC but there are other means of helping the school and students achieve success.
The article was very insightful-however is it because of the discipline(paddling) or his leadership and relationship with students that has made a positive influence at the school. I agree with the Randolph, the Superintendent, he must be very careful with this practice with regards to policy and welfare of students.
Wow! Corporal punishement in 2009. It hard for me to believe why anyone would take a chance with this type of punishment. Even thought corporal punishment has not been outlawed in South Carolina, I would be afraid of an abuse charge being brought up by using this type of disciplinary action. On the flip side of this, some of the parents in this school are very supportive of this type of punishment. As a classroom teacher myself, there has been a stuation where nothing seems to work, as far as discipline, with a student. I'm sure that if I or my administrator could have used corporal punishment then the behavior issues with that particular child would have decreased...yet, I don't think it is worth the risk of your job to use corporal punishement.