Florida public school officials are still allowed to paddle little kids and teens

State Sen. Annette Taddeo stood before colleagues this spring looking for support to ban corporal punishment at school – a form of discipline, usually paddling, that’s considered a vestige of the past in many states.

“In 2019, can you believe that the state of Florida still authorizes public schools to discipline our students using corporal punishment?” she asked senators. “Well I couldn’t believe it either,” said Taddeo, a Democrat representing Miami-Dade.

Believe it.

Across a broad swath of north Florida counties, some bordering the Deep South states of Alabama and Georgia, corporal punishment isn’t archaic — it’s a modern-day practice used to handle disciplinary infractions, with school officials striking little kids to teens.

Some school officials, lawmakers and families support the practice, while civil rights groups and other organizations vehemently oppose it.

Read more: https://www.floridaphoenix.com/2019/06/20/florida-public-school-officials-are-still-allowed-to-paddle-little-kids-and-teens/