OzarksFirst.com (“Missouri School District Brings Back Punishment by Paddle | KOLR – OzarksFirst.Com”) reported that a school district in southern Missouri has opted to reinstate paddling as a last option if children do not react to other forms of discipline.
For almost twenty years, the Cassville School District has not utilized corporal punishment, but Superintendent Meryl Johnson said on the district’s website that a recent parent poll prompted the decision to bring it back.
“Some parents have voiced concern that they don’t want their children to attend school after being suspended.” “These people are looking for a different solution,” “It was what Johnson had to say.” “So, this was only a backup plan in case we needed it before suspending operations altogether.”
Although the new paddling policy is voluntary for parents, Johnson told the Springfield News-Leader (“Missouri District Reinstates Corporal Punishment, Egged on by Parents”) that he won’t know how many families are participating until later this week.
The News-Leader (“Missouri District Reinstates Corporal Punishment, Egged on by Parents”) reported that youngsters will be paddled once or twice (for younger students) and up to three times (for older students).
One of the parents who is opposed to the policy is Miranda Waltrip, who has three children attending a Cassville school. I don’t believe it’s right, “Waltrip told the newspaper. She suggests that the school board consider alternatives to paddling. Instead of using physical punishment, “I feel that if kids had another outlet like counseling services in school, that would be the more appropriate reaction,” Waltrip added. Ultimately, “they are forced to hold the kid down and slap them or use whatever methods they can to make the youngster submit when the problem is not that the child is disobedient but rather that they need to be heard because children behave out for different reasons.”
Spanking has been shown to increase the likelihood of aggressive and antisocial behavior in children, according to research published in the Journal of Family Psychology in 2016 (Gershoff and Font)
Johnson told the News-Leader that, notwithstanding the findings, the policy has the support of the vast majority of families in the district.
Johnson told OzarksFirst.com that only administrators would administer the punishment, with another qualified employee present. He said that he does not expect there to be a great need for padding.
Citations:
“Missouri School District Brings Back Punishment by Paddle | KOLR – OzarksFirst.Com.” KOLR – OzarksFirst.Com, http://www.ozarksfirst.com, 24 Aug. 2022, https://www.ozarksfirst.com/local-news/national-news/missouri-school-district-brings-back-punishment-by-paddle/amp/.
“Missouri District Reinstates Corporal Punishment, Egged on by Parents.” Springfield News-Leader, http://www.news-leader.com, https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/education/2022/08/23/missouri-school-district-reinstates-spanking-corporal-punishment-cassville/7872893001/. Accessed 27 Aug. 2022.
Gershoff, Elizabeth T., and Sarah A. Font. “Corporal Punishment in U.S. Public Schools: Prevalence, Disparities in Use, and Status in State and Federal Policy.” Corporal Punishment in U.S. Public Schools: Prevalence, Disparities in Use, and Status in State and Federal Policy, 0 0 2016.
