William Kritsonis, School Law, Ch 8 Corporal Punishment

1
Corporal Punishment in Public Schools

• Corporal Punishment in Public Schools
• A Teachers Perspective
• William Allan Kritsonis, PhD

2
Corporal Punishment in Public Schools

• A Teachers Perspective

3
Disciplinenot the same as Punishment

• Learning how to effectively discipline a child is
  an important skill that all parents and teachers
  need to learn.
• Discipline is not the same as punishment!
• Discipline has to do more with teaching, and
  involves teaching a child/student
• right from wrong
• how to respect the rights of others
• which behaviors are acceptable and which are not
• how to be self-confident, self-disciplined, and
  how to control his/her impulses
• to not get overly frustrated with the normal
  stresses of everyday life

4

• Do we spare the rod and spoil the child or use
  corporal punishment to correct inappropriate
  behavior?
• These two viewpoints are quite controversial
• Some are very passionate about spanking
• Others are adamant about using alternative
  disciplinary measures
• Discipline can be PAINFUL or PLAUSIBLE depending
  on who is on the receiving end!
• Corporal Punishment painful, intentionally
  inflicted physical penalty administered by a
  person in authority for disciplinary purposes.
  Forms of CP beating, whipping, paddling,
  flogging
• Alternative measures peaceful, calm, and
  usually entail counseling, instruction, and
  chances for betterment.

5
I think we can all agree that this is NOT the
time to lay blame and point fingers, but to work
TOGETHER to find solutions.
6
How to prevent Corporal Punishment from starting

• establish clear behavior expectations and
  guidelines
• focus on student success and self-esteem
• seek student input on discipline rules
• use a systems approach for prevention,
  intervention and resolution
• develop levels of incremental consequences
• enforce rules with consistency, fairness, and
  calmness
• plan lessons that provide realistic opportunities
  for success
• monitor the classroom environment continuously to
  prevent off-task behavior and student disruptions
  
• provide students with social skills training and
  instruction, character education, student
  recognition, and involve them in peer mediation

7
Arguments Against Corporal Punishment

• It perpetuates a cycle of child abuse and it
  teaches children to hit someone smaller and
  weaker when angry.
• CP is often not used as a last resort, but as a
  first resort for minor misbehaviors.
• Injuries can occur, bruises are common, there can
  be broken bones, and even deaths have been
  reported.
• Schools are the only institutions in the United
  States in which striking another person is legal.
  CP is not permitted in prisons, mental
  hospitals, or the military.

8
Arguments Against Corporal Punishment Cont

• Educators should understand
• they expose themselves to potential personal
  liability for damages when they paddle children.
• despite of authorization by local/district policy
  and parental consent, suits can still be filed
  alleging the paddling was excessive or negligent,
  resulting in bodily injury.
• every year there are reported cases in which
  parents have filed
• Abuse charges
• Criminal complaints
• SBEC complaints
• Personal suits for damages

9
The Facts Behind Corporal Punishment

• Corporal punishment in public schools is legal in
  23 of our U.S. states.
• Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware,
  Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas,
  Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New
  Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma,
  Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas,
  and Wyoming
• According to estimates from the federal
  Department of Education, one third of all the
  cases of CP occur in just two states Texas and
  Mississippi---add Arkansas, Alabama, and
  Tennessee, these five states account for almost
  three quarters of all the nations school
  paddlings.
• CP is used much more often on poor children,
  minorities, children with disabilities, and
  boys---the U. S. Department of Education, Office
  for Civil Rights, reported that African-American
  students comprise 17 of all public school
  students in the U.S. yet, statistics show Black
  students are at 38 when it comes to having CP
  inflicted on them, which is more than twice the
  rate of white students.

10
(No Transcript)
11

Corporal Punishment Court Case
Ingraham v. Wright The Court ruled that corporal
punishment of public school students, did not
require any formal due process measures, such as
notice and a hearing and under no circumstances
could be considered cruel and unusual
punishment as that term is used in the Eighth
Amendment. Thus, in effect, the Supreme Court
(by a 5-4 margin) left the regulation of corporal
punishment to state and local officials (Walsh,
Kemerer, and Maniotis, p. 322).
12
Corporal Punishment Court Case
Cunningham v. Beavers Two kindergartners were
caught snickering and were given swats with a
wooden paddle by both the teacher and the
principal. The paddling even left bruises on the
two young girls, but the Fifth Circuit Court
concluded there was no constitutional violation
of either due process or equal protection and if
there were a violation of law, it was a matter
for the state courts, not the federal ones.

13
Corporal Punishment Court Case
Fee v. Herndon In this situation, the parents
authorized appropriate personnel to punish
their emotionally disturbed child with three
paddle swats and even though these parents
consented, they filed suit against the principal
for this beating, claimed their child spent six
months in a psychiatric hospital which costs them
90,000, and brought action against the special
education teacher who allegedly failed to
intervene in the spanking. The District Court for
the Southern District of Texas, dismissed the
case for failure to state a claim, and the
parents appealed. The Court of Appeals dismissed
the case as well and stated that 1) Texas law
afforded adequate post punishment civil and
criminal remedies, and 2) Texas law did not
impose upon the teacher a duty to intervene in
the corporal punishment.
14
Corporal Punishment and the Judicial System

• Public school children have no recourse in
  federal court under the due process clause of the
  Fourteenth Amendment for allegations of abuse of
  corporal punishment.
• There have been efforts to eliminate corporal
  punishment, but NO ONE has succeeded!
• Even when corporal punishment has been arguably
  excessive, federal courts have remained unmoved.
  (Cunningham v. Beavers)
• Even when corporal punishment has been authorized
  by parents, federal courts have stuck to their
  guns. (Fee v. Herndon)
• To lessen the chances of damage suits, most
  schools specify that corporal punishment can be
  used only
• under certain circumstances
• by certain people
• in accordance with certain procedures and policy

15
GOD Ordained Corporal Punishment as a Method of
Discipline

• Many believe that corporal punishment is a GOD
  ordained method of discipline, that there are
  situations where it is the best option and that
  completely ruling it out as a discipline option
  is in direct conflict with GODs advice!
• GOD tells us
• Proverbs 1324 states, He that spareth his rod
  hateth his son but he that loveth him chasteneth
  him betimes.
• Proverbs 2215 states, Foolishness is bound in
  the heart of a child but the rod of correction
  shall drive it far from him.
• Proverbs 2313-14 says, Withhold not correction
  from the child for if thou beatest him with the
  rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with
  the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
• Along with the aforementioned Bible verses, some
  will argue
• CP did them no harm and they live productive
  lives.
• They are resilient to harm and sarcasm.
• It is effective, especially in emergency
  situations like a kid running in the street or
  touching something that could harm them.
• They stress that abuse and spanking are two
  different things.

16
My Perspective on Corporal Punishment

• I am an advocate of CP.
• Corporal punishment should be a means of
  discipline if all other measures of correction
  have exhausted themselves.
• There should be levels of punishment, chances,
  warnings, counseling sessions, and parent
  involvement. However, if those still do not work
  then we should try an alternative method which
  should be CP.
• I feel that this act helps a child to remember
  that pain is not pleasant and if you do not want
  to experience such pain then dont keep
  misbehaving.
• I feel this will save a great deal of paperwork
  such as referrals and detention notices.
• CP will free the office, in school suspension
  rooms, detention halls, and alternative campus
  learning centers of misbehaved children.
• Teachers should explain their reasoning for the
  paddling and show the student that all other
  means were tried and were unsuccessful. This
  way, the student sees the reasoning behind the
  punishment and can hopefully see that it was
  HE/SHE who could not apply themselves and follow
  the rules and it was US who went above and beyond
  in trying to address misbehavior before it came
  to this final measure!!!

17
RESOURCES

• Center for Effective Discipline. (2007a).
  School corporal punishment alternatives.
  On-line. Available www.stophitting.com
• Center for Effective Discipline. (2007b).
  Arguments against corporal punishment.
• On-line. Available www.stophitting.com
• Center for Effective Discipline. (2007c). U. S.
  Corporal punishment and paddling statistics by
  state and race. On-line. Available
  www.stophitting.com

18
RESOURCES cont

• The Young Earth Creation Club. (2007). Corporal
  punishment (spanking) is strongly supported by
  God in the Bible. On-line. Available
  www.creationists.org
• Walsh, J., Kemerer, F., Maniotis, L. (2005).
  The educators guide to Texas school law.
  Austin University of Texas Press.
• World Corporal Punishment Research. (2007).
  Corporal punishment in US schools. On-line.
  Available www.corpun.com/counuss.htm