Corporal punishment ban approved in Rockingham County : News-Record.com : Greensboro & the Triad's most trusted source for local news and analysis

The Rockingham County Board of Education has approved doing away with corporal punishment for students.

Rockingham joins 69 other districts in the state, including Guilford County Schools, in doing so.

The 6-5 vote came after a brief discussion among board members, which included recollections of having the punishment doled out by teachers and principals.

“If it wasn’t for corporal punishment, I wouldn’t be here,” said board member Hal Griffin. “I learned how to beg in a principal’s office. But we live in a much more complicated time.”

The decision comes after legislators changed laws governing corporal punishment last year. State law prohibits the use of corporal punishment on students with disabilities.

Jill Wilson, the school board’s attorney, has noted about a third of students in the district are covered under that designation.

Board member Ron Price was the most vocal advocate for keeping some sort of corporal punishment policy.

Price proposed a policy that would require a parent come to the school and spank the child or be present when a principal spanked their child.

“It removes the liability because the parent will be there,” he said.

District officials said that while records of corporal punishment aren’t kept, it’s believed it hasn’t been administered in a county school in more than two years.

The board also heard from members of the county educators’ association. The group did an informal survey of its 600 members, receiving feedback from 145 teachers. Of that number, 103 were in favor of eliminating corporal punishment.

Debra Wilson, an association member and a Western Rockingham Middle teacher, read the board results from various studies linking corporal punishment to lower IQ scores, slower mental development and increased negative outcomes, such as depression.

“It seems at odds with our goal of creating a safe learning environment,” Wilson said.

Contact J. Brian Ewing at 627-4881, Ext. 120, or brian.ewing@news-record.com

rfathman

February 8, 2011 - 6:29 am EST

Excellent! Now the state legislature should do the same. Among all the developed countries in the world, only the U.S. has not banned the physical punishment of students in its schools, in spite of all the research showing the harm to education. There is not one piece of published research anywhere supporting school corporal punishment, but there are hundreds that find fault. See www.stophitting.org for more info.

grossone

February 8, 2011 - 8:17 am EST

Why don't you try Islam and see what corporal is . It is not the punishment but the assuredly of it that is the deterrent.

laserguidedloogie

February 8, 2011 - 8:28 am EST

Too bad, sometimes they just need a good beatin'...

mwbelthrop

February 8, 2011 - 11:47 am EST

Amen...I'm a senior in high school and I received spankings as a child and I believe it's necessary. I'm not challenged or anything, I even have a scholarship to the college of my choice. I believe it kept me in line. But the teachers want to be you "friend" instead of teaching you what you need to know.

ghost from white oak

February 8, 2011 - 9:11 am EST

More "touchy, feely" legislation to make everyone feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
However, it doesn't address the need for discipline that some children require.
Children are not beaten to death, only reminded, of a standard they are not meeting.

Left Wing Troll

February 8, 2011 - 11:19 am EST

Discipline does not equal corporal punishment. It's pretty narrow minded and pathetic in my opinion to believe that the only way to teach a child is to hit them with a piece of wood designed for the explicit purpose of inflicting pain. Imagine if this was carried over to adults. How many would work for a corporation that regularly called it's employees into the back room and spanked their butts for being late on an assignment? If it's not an acceptable approach for you and me, then it is also not acceptable for a child who cannot defend themselves or make the decision to walk away from their attacker.

CopOnTheBeat

February 8, 2011 - 11:57 am EST

"How many would work for a corporation that regularly called it's employees into the back room and spanked their butts for being late on an assignment?"

Some people may get into that! 'Ohhhh, I've been naughty boss man!' Be careful how you talk about it. That idea may catch on!

Panacea

February 8, 2011 - 10:06 am EST

ghost, you are right that children need discipline.

However, if you have strong, disciplined teachers who instantly correct misbehaving children, teachers who have the backup of principals and administrators, then you don't need corporal punishment.

But teachers don't have that backup. They are disciplined for raising their voices. The inmates run the asylum, so corporal punishment doesn't help.

HotRodLincoln

February 8, 2011 - 11:20 am EST

Smart move.
I'll find out who voted in favor of it so I'll vote against them next election.

blueyedsoutherngirl

February 8, 2011 - 11:56 am EST

As per some of the more colorful comments......we can tell that ignorance is taught at home as well as being a disrespectful person. Good parenting (which does not mean whipping but ACTING the way we want our children to act) is lacking. WE as parents and teacher must set the standards and be the repectful, law abiding examples that our children need. Then and only then will respect be shown for adults and children alike.I for one would like to thank those that voted to ban corporal punishment. God help someone who assaults my child.....protected by law or not!

DaveW

February 8, 2011 - 1:33 pm EST

Whether it was still legal or not corporal punishment has been discouraged and rarely used for a long time.I do not even know when it became illegal in Guilford County.It was last used at my school in either 1984 or 1985.Even when it was done at our school the vast majority of it was done by an administrator and very seldom by a teacher. Most of the teachers that used it when I first began my career were older teachers that have long sense retired from the profession.I believe the act of making it illegal is pretty much just a formality.

brianheagney

February 8, 2011 - 7:56 pm EST

I had no idea that teachers could hit my child as a deterrent. That sounds completely asinine to me, and the thought of unschooling is sounding more appealing every day.

The thought that someone thought corporal punishment was a good idea because he "learned how to beg in the principal's office" is just weird and awful. It's still just so completely weird that it isn't illegal to hit kids in school.

Malakuko

February 9, 2011 - 5:00 pm EST

I attended public school in 60's and 70's and if we got into a fight, talked back to the teacher or broke the golden rules we knew e would get a "paddling". Did it hurt? Yes. Corporal Punishment? No We were in school not prison.Was it abuse? No. Did it affect our education? Yes,it did. We knew from grade 1 to grade 8 that if certain rules were broken or you got out of line you would get a paddling. Being aware of this reminded everyone, we were there to learn and be respectful of others so by the time we were in high school we were treated as adults and had proper respect for our teachers. Parents weren't walking around talking this "no body is beating my kid but me" because they new if their kids deserved it. Do what the attorney suggest, call parents to school and let them witness or deliver the punishment, believe me, a child hates for their parents to be called to school for misbehavior. So now we got this America is the only country using corporal punishment. Are you kidding me? Do you people really believe that? It's only inevitable that it's come, this would happen. They took the Bible, prayer, and The Pledge of Allegiance out of schools and now the only thing left that made students have what little respect left toward other students and teachers,a paddling. I bet there's been very little paddling the past 20 years anyway based on the way people acted over the last 20 years. What a society we have become! We have to have police officers at school. The students have no respect for each other or their teachers.Some parents just don't do the job with their kids and don't won't nobody else shaping their lives and future and the kids end up with nothing but disrespect toward everything and everybody. Were do you think all this killing and drug abuse comes from? If you can show me something that will teach the respect I speak of then and only then would I agree that the paddle be put on the shelf.

PDeverit

February 12, 2011 - 3:45 pm EST

Only suitable for minors?:

Schoolchildrens' "spanking" related injuries (WARNING - These images may be deeply disturbing to some viewers. Do not open this page if children are present).
http://www.nospank.net/injuredkids.pdf

Reasonable and moderate? You decide.
(WARNING - This sound recording may be deeply disturbing to some listeners. Do not open this file if children are within listening range).
http://nospank.net/prj-006.wav

People used to think it was necessary to "spank" adult members of the community, college students, military trainees, and prisoners. In some countries they still do. In our country, it is considered assault and battery (sexual battery at that) if a person over the age of 18 is "spanked", but only if over the age of 18.

Recommended by professionals:

Plain Talk About Spanking
by Jordan Riak
http://www.nospank.net/pt2010.pdf

The Sexual Dangers of Spanking Children
by Tom Johnson
http://nospank.net/sdsc2.pdf

NO VITAL ORGANS THERE, So They Say
by Lesli Taylor MD and Adah Maurer PhD
http://nospank.net/taylor.htm

Most current research:

Spanking Kids Increases Risk of Sexual Problems
http://www.unh.edu/news/cj_nr/2008/feb/lw28spanking.cfm

Use of Spanking for 3-Year-Old Children and Associated Intimate Partner Aggression or Violence
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/126/3/415

Spanking Can Make Children More Aggressive Later
http://tulane.edu/news/releases/pr_03122010.cfm

Spanking Children Can Lower IQ
http://www.unh.edu/news/cj_nr/2009/sept/lw25straus.cfm

February 12, 2011 - 3:46 pm EST

Just a handful of those helping to raise awareness of why child "spanking" isn't a good idea:

American Academy of Pediatrics,
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,
American Psychological Association,
Center For Effective Discipline,
Churches' Network For Non-Violence,
United Methodist Church
Nobel Peace Prize recipient Archbishop Desmond Tutu,
Parenting In Jesus' Footsteps,
Global Initiative To End All Corporal Punishment of Children,
United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.

In 31 nations, child corporal punishment is prohibited by law (with more in process). In fact, the US was the only UN member that did not ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The US also has the highest incarceration rate in the world.

The US states with the highest crime rates and the poorest academic performance are also the ones with the highest rates of child corporal punishment.

There is simply no evidence to suggest that child bottom-battering instills virtue.

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