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Home My WebLink AboutBringing back corporal punishment at Georgia school appalling but not surprising OPINION - Toronto Star - 09/12/2018 - Toronto Star - 09/12/20189/13/2018 Bringing back corporal punishment at Georgia school appalling but not surprising I The Star This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation- ready onnips of Toronto Star content for distri ution t or cus+t-%Y"v r Bringing back corporal punishment .2t Georgia school appalling but not 0 0 surprising By EMMA TEITEL National Columnist Wed., Sept. 12, 2018 political correctness is turning society soft can take solace in a bit of news out of Georgia this week: a charter school in the southern U.S. state has reinstated an old form of corporal punishment. If their parents consent to the practice, students at theGeorgia School of Innovation and the Classics who act out in class maybe sent to the principal's offi where they will receive up to three thwacks on the behind from an administrator wielding a wooden paddle. The punishment couldn't have been reinstated at a mo appropriately named institution, for what is paddling in 2018, but an innovation o a classic? I https://www.thestar.com/opinion/star-columnists/20l8/O9/l2/bringing-back-corporal-punishment-at-georgia-school-appalling-but-not-surprising.html 1/5 9/13/2018 Bringing back corporal punishment at Georgia school appalling but not surprising I The Star A school that approves of corporal punishment should not surprise in Trump's America, Emma Teitel writes. (DREAMSTIME) The school actually sent kids home with a parental consent form this month that reads, in part, "The [offending] student will be taken into an office and the door closed. The student will place their hands on their knees or a piece of furniture and will be struck on the buttocks with a paddle." And in case you're a stickler for detail (or presumably, your kid wants to bring his own) the school provides parents with precise paddle dimensions. The paddle in question, the school note reads, "is to be made of wood and should not exceed 24" in length, 6" in width, and 3/4 -in thickness." Is this legal? Yes, very much so. In fact, corporal punishment is currently legal in 19 states. Not at all. Prevailing research indicates that simply being a normal teenager is a paddle -able offence. According to a study published in 2016 in the U.S. National Library of Medicine, American children "have been corporally punished in school for being late to class., failing to turn in homework, violating dress codes, running in the hallway, laughing in the hallway, sleeping in class, talking back to teachers, going to the bathroom without permission, mispronouncing words, and receiving bad grades." https://www.thestar.com/opinion/star-columnists/2018/09/12/bringing-back-corporaI-punishment-at-georgia-schooI-appaIIing-but-not-surprising.html 2/5 9/13/2018 Bringing back corporal punishment at Georgia school appalling but not surprising I The Star The school's superintendent, Jody Boulineau, told local media this week that several parents are supportive of the new, old policy. "There was a time where corporal punishment was kind of the norm in school and you didn't have the problems that you have." Ah, the good old days. When people were paddled from sea to shining sea. When kids didn't run in the halls because their butts ached. When America was great. If you think this story is royally messed up you're not alone. News of the school's paddling policy has travelled far beyond Georgia, shocking and appalling anyone who prefers more humane child disciplinary measures such as the traditional ti out, or the notoriously ineffective, "I'm going to count to I But though we are appalled, should we really be surprised that such a policy was reinstated at an American school? After all, despite constant anti -bullying campaigns that suggest otherwise, we are living in a moment that rewards bullies big and small. Vladimir Putin. Donald Trump. These are precisely the kind of men who would argue that smacking somebody on the rear end builds character. 1ndee it's not unthinkable or unlikely that each of these is has his own set of paddles, autographed by his personal hero. (Trump's would be signed by Putin of course, and Putin's by Putin). I We are also living in a moment (thanks in no small part to the men mentioned above) that ignores and repudiates facts. enTffe eenFo fe - _TF__X-ff1Te—cFSTa-fes declares the press the eo nemy the peopel prsid and thousands of women put "jade yoni eggs" up their vaginas against the direct wishes of their gynaecologists should we really be surprised that there are those— exyerienced educators among them—who disre-VArd the verN� large body, of research indicating that corporal punishment isn't good for kids. Fact: it doesn't work. It is, according to Human Rights Watch, discriminatory, ineffective, and "there is no evidence that it promotes better learning." Also ineffective is paddling's popular sister: spanking. From a 2016 study in the Journal of Family Psychology: "Parents who use spanking, practitioners who recommend it, and policy -makers who allow it might reconsider doing so given that there is no evidence that spanking does any good for children and all evidence points to the risk of it doing harm." https://www.thestar.com/opinion/star-columnists/20l8/O9/l2/bringing-back-corporal-punishment-at-georgia-school-appalling-but-not-surprising.html 3/5 9/13/2018 Bringing back corporal punishment at Georgia school appalling but not surprising I The Star study, recently published by researchers at Binghampton University in New York suggests the following: "showing compassion to subordinates pays off." Cruelty dsuccess in the oesn't io f ,fe # modern workplace. ibest results, 1� leaders, ■ f matter f Y i e reign, g should enforce benchmarks if kindness. i bruises. Emma Teitel is a columnist based in Toronto covering current affairs. Follow her on Twitter: @emmaroseteitel REPORT AN ERROR JOURNALISTIC STANDARDS ABOUT US in R ` # # . # or distribution ofthis contentexpressly#without`prior written consentof Toronto Star Newspapers and/or # order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com https://www.thestar.com/opin ion/star-colu m nists/2018/09/12/bringing-back-corporal-pun is hment-at-georgia-school-appal li ng -but -not -surprising. html 4/5 9/13/2018 Bringing back corporal punishment at Georgia school appalling but not surprising I The Star https://www.thestar.com/opin ion/star-colu m nists/2018/09/12/bringing-back-corporal-pun is hment-at-georgia-school-appal li ng -but -not -surprising. html 5/5