200,000 Kids Physically Punished In School

(CBS)  Heather Porter couldn't believe it when her son Cameron, who was three at the time, told her he'd been spanked with a paddle at his pre-school outside Houston.

"I just felt like I couldn't protect him," Porter said. "I don't, I don't even spank him at home."

According to a new report, boys like Cameron are three times as likely to be paddled in school as girls.

Of the nearly quarter-million kids physically disciplined across the country:

African-American girls were hit more than twice as often as white girls.

And kids with disabilities and Native Americans were also more likely to be hit.

The report's authors say corporal punishment creates a violent school environment, and is not conducive to learning.

"So when you compound that with students who already have obstacles to a good education, like African-American students or special education students, that really creates a double-edged sword," said Alice Farmer, co-author of the Human Rights Watch report.

Corporal punishment is against the law in schools in most of the country, but it remains legal in 21 states, from Wyoming to Florida.

And often it takes the form of paddling. A teacher or an administrator uses a board to hit a child on the behind.

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Learn more and read the report.

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Opponents call it a form of abuse. But supporters say it works.

"You know, they may think about doing something but when they think about corporal punishment, that fear will make them say, 'No, I don't think I'm going to do that right now,'" said former junior high school principal Anthony Price.

There's been little research done on the effectiveness of corporal punishment in schools, but plenty of studies have shown it doesn't work in the home.

"It makes them more aggressive, more delinquent and makes them have more mental health problems," said Elizabeth Gershoff, assistant professor of social work at the University of Michigan. "Some of these outcomes even last until adulthood."

Heather Porter's son now goes to another pre-school. She hopes the paddling he received at his old one will be his last.

[funnybone6-2009]

Since when did the punishment begin to be used in public schools? I believed that that sort of "teaching" was banned in school, and disciplinary action usually involved student isolation, explanations to the student about conduct in class or at recess as well as long talks with both student and parents inside of teacher-parent meetings! What other non-reported (non-reportable?) changes can be expected from a present day analysis of today''s public school system in the USA?

[zoltaric]

Minorities are "victims"?

The true victims are the teachers and the unfortunate kids that want to learn as the illiterate, undisciplined minorities cause troublr in the class.

Of course more minorities are punished. they are the animals causing all the trouble.

[ibzjem]

parents that won''t spank (not beat - there IS a massive difference) are the ones that let their kids scream and yell in the stores. I get very tired of watching parents ignore their kids bad behavior while out in public. I know all children are not the same, but yelling at your kid to "shut up" and doing nothing else is not parenting and ignoring them is not either. I was disciplined. I couldn''t touch things on the shelf or scream and make a scene because I couldn''t get what I wanted.

I say spank em when they need it. A three year old can be spanked on the rear (NOT the back, or legs, or arms, or head) with a hand. No paddle necessary. Specifically administered spankings are not beatings. It teaches respect of authority.

[garys2216]

The generation that put us on the moon was schooled in the era when "children were hit as punishment" and we had the greatest educational system in the world! But since taking corporal punishment out of school in most places, our educational system has fallen a long way from first place.

It%u2019s no wonder teachers today have to have teacher%u2019s aids in the classrooms. We%u2019re suffering from an undisciplined educational system, which has spawned an undisciplined society. Proof of an undisciplined society is readily seen in the sub-prime debacle. The mess that our economy is in can be directly linked to people who are undisciplined. They feel entitled to have what they want without waiting, so they sign contracts they feel no responsibility to fulfill, if it is difficult. Their word means nothing! They cry about have the lenders mistreated them for loaning them money they could never repay, and yet they signed the contracts. Now, they want to call King%u2019s %u201CX and protest that it''s not their fault or responsibility. Don''t hold them accountable. Don''t spank them financially. Don''t let them suffer the consequences of their self-centeredness. Protect them from the consequences of their deeds like you did in school.

Maybe. Just maybe. If they''d been struck a few times when they needed it in school, they''d have learned some valuable life lessons that one just doesn%u2019t learn in time-out!

[garys2216]

The generation that put us on the moon was schooled in the era when "children were hit as punishment" and we had the greatest educational system in the world! But since taking corporal punishment out of school in most places, our educational system has fallen a long way from first place.

It%u2019s no wonder teachers today have to have teacher%u2019s aids in the classrooms. We%u2019re suffering from an undisciplined educational system, which has spawned an undisciplined society. Proof of an undisciplined society is readily seen in the sub-prime debacle. The mess that our economy is in can be directly linked to people who are undisciplined. They feel entitled to have what they want without waiting, so they sign contracts they feel no responsibility to fulfill, if it is difficult. Their word means nothing! They cry about have the lenders mistreated them for loaning them money they could never repay, and yet they signed the contracts. Now, they want to call King%u2019s %u201CX and protest that it''s not their fault or responsibility. Don''t hold them accountable. Don''t spank them financially. Don''t let them suffer the consequences of their self-centeredness. Protect them from the consequences of their deeds like you did in school.

Maybe. Just maybe. If they''d been struck a few times when they needed it in school, they''d have learned some valuable life lessons that one just doesn%u2019t learn in time-out!

[gaye5]

cfin5, Spock''s grandson Peter committed suicide on December 25 1983 at the age of 22 by jumping from the roof of the Boston Children''s Museum. I wonder if it had something to do with his parents upbringing which may or maynot have been used on him..
Spocks mother didnt smack but controlled her children by instilling a strongsense of guilt, which I feel is a cruel way of disciplining children.

[gaye5]

Porter said. "I just felt like I couldn''t protect him," "I don''t, I don''t even spank him at home."

Well, my husbands experience at school is that most children who are not spanked are rotters, so my thinking on this one is that the poor teacher had had enough of his rotten behavour. All my generation were spanked many times in their little lives and funny but there was very little stealing, killings, and break and entering.. hmmm I wonder why??? It couldnt be because they were disciplined could it, but now when they are naughty they get days of negative attention when they get to see the principal, Dr, then psyc then presents for if they are good etc, hrs, weeks or months of attention, and the good child gets nothing...
We learnt self discipline because we were disciplined. If I hear that a parent doesnt believe in smacking, I keep clear.. I had two very bright strong willed children who need many smacks, and one who didnt need hardly any and a daughter who deeded some, and guess what!!! one is now a policeman, one works in the police force, one is a senior project manager of comercial buildings and the other is a mum who is also bring up her very bright strong willed children the same way and they are beautiful children..

[keithle1]

Baby mamas having babies that grow up to be thugs & gangstas. Filling up our jails & prisons. Going back again & again & again. Takes half an hour to print out his rap sheet.

Sterilize yourself. I beg you. We don''t need any more people. Stop breeding!

[toolmangler-2009]

I am 100% for spanking a naughty child when needs be, I am 100% against beating a child for any reason. I was ''spanked'', switched, paddled and popped as a child. No I didn''t like it then but I am greatful for them now. I have no scars on my legs or bottom from the attitude adjustments I received, but I tell you now, without my Parents and Grandparents guidance I would have been very un-nice.

[libsluv2spit]

generations of morons growing up using "lets hug them instead" style in our school system leads to something like this..

"(CBS/ AP) A student fatally shot a 16-year-old classmate during a dispute Thursday at a Knoxville high school, as other teenagers watched in horror as the victim clutched his chest and fell to the floor"