WASHINGTON, Aug. 20, 2008
Study: Minority Students Paddled More
Human Rights Watch Says Black Kids Receive Corporal Punishment Twice As Often
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Even little kids can be paddled. Heather Porter, who lives in Crockett, Texas, was startled to hear her little boy, then 3, say he'd been spanked at school. Porter was never told, despite a policy at the public preschool that parents be notified.
"We were pretty ticked off, to say the least. The reason he got paddled was because he was untying his shoes and playing with the air conditioner thermostat," Porter said. "He was being a 3-year-old."
In its study, which was being released Wednesday, the group Human Rights Watch used Education Department data to show that, while paddling has been declining, racial disparity persists. Researchers also interviewed students, parents and school personnel in Texas and Mississippi, states that account for 40 percent of kids who were paddled in the 2007 school year.
Porter could have filled out a form telling the school not to paddle her son, if only she had realized he might be paddled.
Yet many parents find that such forms are ignored, the study said.
Widespread paddling can make it unlikely that forms will be checked. A teacher interviewed by Human Rights Watch, Tiffany Bartlett, said that in her Austin, Texas, school, the policy was to lock the classroom doors when the bell rang, leaving stragglers to be paddled by an administrator patrolling the hallways.
And even if schools make a mistake, they are unlikely to face lawsuits. In places where corporal punishment is allowed, teachers and principals generally have legal immunity from assault laws, the study said.
"One of the things we've seen over and over again is that parents have difficulty getting redress, if a child is paddled and severely injured, or paddled in violation of parents' wishes," said Alice Farmer, the study's author.
A majority of states have outlawed it, but corporal punishment remains widespread across the South. Behind Texas and Mississippi were Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Florida and Missouri.
African American students are more than twice as likely to be paddled. The disparity persists even in places with large black populations, the study found. Similarly, Native Americans were more than twice as likely to be paddled, the study found.
The study also found:
More than 100 countries worldwide have banned paddling in schools, including all of Europe, Farmer said. "International human rights law puts a pretty strong prohibition on corporal punishment," she said.
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In rural Drew, Miss., Nickolaus Luckett still remembers the paddlings he got in fifth and seventh grades. One happened when he called a teacher by her first name, the other when a classmate said, wrongly, that he threw a spitball.It perpetuates a cycle of child abuse. It teaches children to hit someone smaller and weaker when angry.
Jan Harp Domene, National PTA President"I didn't get any bruises, but they still hurt, and from that point on, I told myself and my parents I wasn't going to take any more paddlings," said Luckett, who is about to be a sophomore at the University of Mississippi.
It's not an easy choice. In many schools, kids can avoid a paddling if they accept suspension or detention, or for younger kids, if they skip recess. But often, a child opts for the short-term sting of the paddle.
And sometimes teachers don't have the option of after-school detention, because there are no buses to take kids home later.
During the three years Evan Couzo taught in the Mississippi Delta, he refused to paddle kids, offering detention instead. But others - teachers, parents, even kids - were accustomed to paddling.
"Just about everyone at the beginning of the year said, `If he or she gives you any trouble, you can paddle them. You can send them home, and I'll paddle them. Or you can have me come out to the school, and we can both paddle them.'
"It's really just a part of the culture of the school environment there," Couzo said.
There is scant research on whether paddling is effective in the classroom. But many studies have shown it doesn't work at home, said Elizabeth Gershoff, a University of Michigan assistant professor of social work.
"The use of corporal punishment is associated almost overwhelmingly with negative effects, and that it increases children's problem behavior over time," Gershoff said.
Children may learn to solve problems using aggression, and a sense of resentment might make them act out more, Gershoff said.
The practice is banned in 29 states, most recently in Delaware and Pennsylvania. While some education groups haven't taken a position on the issue, the national PTA believes paddling should be banned everywhere.
"We teach our children that violence is wrong, yet corporal punishment teaches children that violence is a way to solve problems," said Jan Harp Domene, the group's president. "It perpetuates a cycle of child abuse. It teaches children to hit someone smaller and weaker when angry."
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Add a Comment See all 77 Comments
- Black boys/men end up in prison because they commit crimes. It''s not because they forgot to return a few books to the library.
Ask the black men in prison this question: did you have a mother who cared about you, loved you & made you her number one priority? Heck, ask that question of all the prisoners, white & brown, too. 99.9% are going to say NO.
Their mother didn''t care about them. In most cases. She was too busy partying, sucking on a crack pipe, sleeping with every man who smiled at her, etc. Doing everything but taking care of her kids. She has no idea where they are most of the time. Whether they pull a gun out in class or drop out of high school is of no concern to her. It''s all about her. She''s too selfish to be a mother.
If the kids aren''t getting any discipline at home, do you think they''re going to behave in school?
Teachers in urban high schools don''t have it easy. To say the least. These high schools in the city have to have metal detectors & guards patrolling the halls. - Reply to this comment
- downsteamjim,
I don''t think rmonroe401 is capable of understanding your sarcasm. - Reply to this comment
- Posted by Keithle1 at 10:11 PM : Aug 20, 2008
I strongly disagree with you most of the time but this time I am with you. I also wish that co11bang had that internet feed to actually see what goes on in the classroom. I think most parents would be shocked at the things their precious little monsters are capable of. - Reply to this comment
- I use to only worry about teachers molesting our kids. Based on this report and the people defending the practice of smacking other people''s children I''m beggining to think that every classroom should have a live internet feed so we the parents can monitor the situation in the classroom. Unbelieveable!
- Reply to this comment
- Keithle1: have you heard of Columbine? Maybe we should beat the white kids so they don''t bring guns and bombs to school and systematically massacre their classmates thought of that? Ofcourse you havent thought of that because your busy calling "minority" children brats and monsters. If you were my daughter''s teacher and you hit her I would pack two years of war into two minutes of furry and leave you a bloody mess. Focus on your own *** family buddy!
- Reply to this comment
- Maybe the minority kids are acting up more? Could it be? Or is that a racist thing to say?
You teach these brats & see if you don''t lay a finger on them. Parents let them do whatver they want. "We don''t want to damage Cody''s self-esteem." Kids are in charge. I see it all the time at the mall, supermarket, store, subway, etc. Mother giving "ultimatums" to her little girl. You''re in a public place with other people who don''t think your precious monster is all that cute. Discipline the kid! Play the part of the PARENT for once! - Reply to this comment
- downsteamjim :
"From the tone of the article, it would seem that we should set aside a certain number of white students [especially females] to be ''''whipping boys'''' so that all groups will be punished equally, regardless of who is committing the enfractions.?"
LOL, and people like you probably believe what you are saying here. I can''t believe this is the mentality of people in this country. The sad part it they get to vote. I just wish they would give IQ tests before voting, and require a score of over 22. - Reply to this comment
- I am a two time Infantry war vet and let me be clear...if anyone ever lays a hand on my daughter for ANY reason I will stomp their brains out of their skull like a Haji caught with an IED! Hit your own *** kids, you hit mine and you eat from a straw.
- Reply to this comment
- To cjw: You have been channeling again. Maybe you need to give your crystal a tune up.
- Reply to this comment
- Beat the cr*p out of them when they do not conform to the NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND guidelines. It''s the best way to deal with the little inbreeds GWB was overheard saying. Besides my daddy beat the holy sh*t out of me and I turned out okay,GWB added.
- Reply to this comment
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