Take this Online Poll in a Georgia NEwspaper

Do others find it as shocking and strange to me that so many would allow a stranger with a board to paddle their children in school? These are paddles they use...implements.. on children. I would never allow this for my child ever and believe the law needs to be changed. Please vote in the poll!
http://www.thepostsearchlight.com/polls/2009/sep/agree-corporal-punishment-policy/results/

You have to click on the link: "Vote in this Poll" under the results

Isn't this giving the wrong message to the kids? Especially young girls. In some cases this goes on even in HIGH SCHOOL, if one can believe it.. READ THIS REPORT:
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2008/11/29/met_502023.shtml -- look at the numbers for high schools

Your link shows the results, not the page where you might vote.

Can you repost the correct link?

Click on that... :-)

Voted.

That's a nice little hidden line they have there. I looked and looked before I asked you.

So, now it's done.

Thanks................

The Richmond County Board of Education adopted a policy for corporal punishment in 1977 and revised it most recently in 1990.

I'm old enough to remember when paddling was still practiced, at least in the school that I went to for third and fourth grade. But it was in a small rural town in Northern NY, where the principal (and paddler) was also a teacher, and this was in the '60s. I can't imagine that it still happens, even there. :crazy:

And the kids that got the padding, that I remember, were boys who were perpetual third graders. Maybe I'm wrong, since I was only seven and eight in third grade, but the two boys were 10 and 11 and didn't pass, yet again, the year that they were in my class. I wonder what happened to those kids. :-(

Apparently, it helps to be in favor of corporal punishment in schools to be able to figure that out. :eyes:

I can't believe that half of the voters in the poll think it's okay for their kids to be hit in schools. Here in NY, if a teacher even tries to make a kid do anything they don't want to, the parents are right there, with lawyers in tow... x(

Rhiannon :hi:

Yes, thank you so much for voting. The problem here in GA, it's like monkey see monkey do, when one district brings back the paddle, they all think it's just fine to do and bring it back. My district so far does not do it, but I fear it's only a matter of time. It's scarey, I hooked up some other links to the original post. Most of the time the parents have little say so in the policy. And our lawmakers are ignoring us. That's why we need folks to write to the lawmakers form all over. Imagine sending your teenage girl to school and you find out some administrator makes her taker her whacks. I would be livid. Where are the women against violence groups.. they need to know this is happening in Georgia !!

I honestly had no idea that this practice still went on, anywhere!:wow:

In my previous post, I said that I remember it happening back in the '60s, when I was in third grade, in a very small school in a small rural town. These days, at least where I live now, parents are always running to the school to defend their kids, no matter what trouble they've gotten into. And schools these days are a whole lot rougher than when I was there. At least in the early grades, we were scared of certain teachers, especially of the one with the paddle! (who was a very large woman... ;) ) :scared:

Permission first must be obtained from parents... If not, this explains a lot, but I can't imagine that the kids aren't talking about it. In my neighborhood, a lawsuit would follow. :shrug:

The lawmakers certainly need to be informed, and a few hundred LTTEs would probably go a long way in informing the public. :-(

how horrifying. The idea that any parent would let ANYONE do that to their children just tells you the level of stupidity we're up against all the time in this country.

Pretty awful....................

I was in third grade, back in the '60s, in a small school in a small rural town. The fourth grade teacher was also the principal and she was the one with the paddle. I seem to remember seeing it, a ping pong paddle, and most of us were scared to death of it, and her. It was an old school, torn down long ago, which still had cloakrooms, and the fourth grade boys' cloakroom was the "paddle room..." I have no doubt that it happened, remember the red faces of the older boys in my class who got the paddling.:blush:

Today, the parents would be down at the school with a team of lawyers. And things are much rougher in the schools today than they were when I was a kid. The boys in my class used to shoot pencil lead across the room at each other (I got hit once). And who knows if the boys that I remember even had parents? :-(

Now, anything goes. When my brother was in high school, in the '70s, a girl built a bomb... :scared:

But paddling?! Now, if even a parent did it, they'd be brought up on charges... x(

I feel sorry for teachers trying to teach and the children that want to learn but the classroom is chaos due to students that are unmanageable. The threat of the punishment is what made it work in the past but so many children in todays world seem to be the the boss in their household and have no respect for authority.

I guess I am too old to understand and btw my kids probably got a total on one or two swats when growing up. I am not in any way shape or form condoning beating a child.

@newfie ..Feeling sorry for teachers doesn't solve the problem. The educators in Georgia make an excellent wage and if you do research into the law the educators are immune from lawsuits when it comes to discipline. Basically you can beat the 'you know what' out of kid and nothing happens. Criminal and civil immunity. Incindentally the students in my district are not subject to this and we happen to be one of the best scoring districts in the state. There are many truths and myths about paddling. Paddling can leave bruising and injury! The myth that it is a deterrent is false. The latest studies show more aggression with many kids. We don't need a columbine here in Georgia... we need this nonsense outlaed.

Adults in 2009 are getting away with a terrible practice in georgia schools. Look at the interactive map on the ACLU website. That may shake you up.
Now as far as 'parent permission'...when does that h appen? MAybe parent permission is given once at the beginning of the year.. so all the times the kid is getting paddled may be unbeknownst to the parent.

By the way, many districts don't inform parents at all, you only learn of this when your kid becomes afraid of school.

What happens when a teacher cannot teach due to children that are disrupting the class. When the child has no respect for authority? Sure they get sent home but nothing changes when they come back. They have parents who feel it is all the fault of the school system or teachers. Yeah there are bad teachers and there are bad school systems but but you cannot say this is 100% of the problem. How many of these concerned parents have never gone to a parent teacher meeting. How do these kids who do not accept authority fit into society when they have to support themselves.

As far as paddling I raised 3 kids in the south, in rural schools and not one was paddled. I knew the teachers, many were friends as well as neighbors. I knew the principals. I would have been first concerned why my child was paddled and second embarrassed that it was needed. I guess if this is a concern then parents need to meet with the teachers/principal and find out what the problems are.

newfie - ARe you aware that many districts received millions in IDEA moneys with the restoration act? Also I have no idea when the last time you've had a child in school, but the research tells the learned people it is causing more harm than good. Might have worked back in the day, but do you know the school puts itself at risk for 1. more violence and aggression 2. lawsuits - in which all taxpayers have to foot the bill.

The solution to the perceived 'problem' you say is Positive Behavior Supports, this is not rocket science. Pres Obama's Education Secretary has been talking PBS since he was appointed. Schools need to come into 2009. The schools in CT have no worse behaved kids than schools in Georgia. I know because I have been in BOTH states. Connecticut's student achievement is better than the south's.

There were already hearings in DC on May 19 on abusive practices in schools. The reason you didn't have a problem with it is because you were there. However, what about the neglectful parent-- I can turn this around on you now- who cannot for whatever reason take care of the kid-- should those kids get it more often, because no one is in their corner? Why blame the kid when PBS is available, yet no one is effectively implementing it?

Teachers have a myriad of skills available to them about Classroom Management. As well as identifying children with needs that cannot be met by one person. That's why my tax dollars go to these schools, to help identify the kids that need help through Title 1 and IDEA.

to use a wooden implement in the name of education.

Sorry Under the board but you are no changing my mind. Not that my thoughts change anything.

Positive behavior support should begin at home but as I said before this is often not the case. It should not be left to the school. When this has not happened then it is left to the teacher to try to teach an unruly student. One that takes up his/her time. If the student is disciplined or suspended from school it is then looked upon as the fault of the school where as it really should fall back on the parent.

You can't make a purse out of a sows ear. If the child's parents have not instilled respect for authority there is nothing the school can do. I am not talking about children with medical reasons to bad behavior.

My 3 children are grown and one is a teacher. I have friends that are teachers. Now I live in a rural area (ranch/farm country in far western Nebraska Panhandle). I am sure it is different in rural areas than in big cities. However I do know what it is like trying to teach at schools on some of the reservations in SD. I traveled to those areas often on a mobile medical van. Talking to some of the Native American teachers over the years taught me plenty about what they face in schools. There is a massive problem with alcohol and meth both in the home and community. Children in the 4th grade are caught huffing at school. Many homes have no running water. I would think this is similar to big city problems.
Kids that want to learn get less attention because the disrupter's get full attention. Many live with drunk grandmas (they even act this out during recess) because parents are not able to care for them. They see parents drunk, huffing, etc. Bright intelligent kids that want to learn give up trying and many drop out. I want to be clear that I have many Lakota friends and I am in no way putting them down. This information is coming from them. I am just saying what the way of life is on Rosebud/Pineridge/ some areas of Cheyenne River rez is like for for many people.
I would bet the per capita income in Georgia is much much lower then Connecticut thus allowing kids more opportunities in Connecticut. However think Georgia parents should make the decision for their kids.

@newfie Do you really think the problems you list with these kids is going to be helped by having an authority figure wield a wooden board at them? I think YOU are confusing the issue. I am specifically talking about adults nearly twice the size or more taking a weapon and hitting a child. You can't take one of these wooden boards in courthouse, in an airport, in a state capitol because it's considered a Weapon.

I am not talking about taking away a parents right to spank, although I do not hit my children and do not condone it whatsoever. Maybe if Americans learned other ways other than brute force to bring up their children YOU wouldn't be seeing violence, bullying, drugs,..etc. You do know the latest research shows children subject to corporal punishment can become aggressive, fearful, distrustful and even their IQ can be affected. Teh point being, why are schools doing this, the bastion for graduates of higher education. I can almost understand STUPID parents doing STUPID things, but graduates of higher learning? No. There is not one Teachers in the U.S. That went to school and attended a course on discipline that included hitting children with a board. I myself have taken plenty of child development courses, not one condoned or even mentioned hitting children with an implement.

It takes BRAINS to properly discipline children. Most parents hit their children for no other reason but because they were hit too. I do not condone this whatsoever. I think Americans who advocate hitting children are creating what we have today....violence everywhere.

Had you even read anything about PBIS?????? Why condemn it if you haven't read about it? www.pbis.org

Did you Read the Impairing Education Report?

Do you know there is an explosion of Autism in this Country? What about them?

If you or your educator friends could please name one study that shows that hitting children works, please..you'll change my mind, but my guess is you can't.