Who thinks the best way for a school to teach kids to use their words is to hit them? You’d be surprised. I’m Amy E. Feldman.
Video of a principal at a Florida elementary school paddling a six year old girl for misbehaving has gone viral. It’s one thing – not a good thing but a different thing – for a parent to spank a child. But a school? Aren’t there laws against that?
Some, but not as many as you think. Nineteen states allow public schools to use corporal punishment against kids of any age, although some of those states have rules against hitting a child who has a disability. Every state except New Jersey and Iowa say it’s legal for private schools to punish kids by spanking or paddling them. A bill was introduced in the US House of Representatives in February to put an end to corporal punishment in school, but so far it has not come up for a vote. Maybe the schools should spend more time teaching kids lessons on how to make a bill into a law and less time teaching them how to use physical force to teach them a lesson.
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