News & Politics - Topic of the Week #22: What are your thoughts on paddling in school?

**vc318** · 09-20-2008, 09:42 PM

Maybe you guys have seen it but there's this reality show called The Principal's Office on Tru TV where the work day of a principal is recorded. Now, there's this one school that they are always filming at where the principal is allowed to paddle the students instead of them serving detention or getting suspended. This is done at a high school, which I find very strange because the students are nearly adults and are being disciplined as if they just got caught coloring on the wall or something. I wonder if the students really learn anything from the paddling. But how about at a much younger level like elementary school? I know I wouldn't want another person to physically discipline my child even though they might deserve it. I think that sort of thing should be left up to the parents though.

**TheAngel** · 09-21-2008, 05:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vc318 (View Post)

Maybe you guys have seen it but there's this reality show called The Principal's Office on Tru TV where the work day of a principal is recorded. Now, there's this one school that they are always filming at where the principal is allowed to paddle the students instead of them serving detention or getting suspended. This is done at a high school, which I find very strange because the students are nearly adults and are being disciplined as if they just got caught coloring on the wall or something. I wonder if the students really learn anything from the paddling. But how about at a much younger level like elementary school? I know I wouldn't want another person to physically discipline my child even though they might deserve it. I think that sort of thing should be left up to the parents though.

I don't think schools should be allowed to do that at all. It's not up to them. What happens if someone doing the paddling loses their temper, hits to hard. And, to be honest, even in high school, if a member of the administration tried to paddle me, I would have ended up in a lot more trouble because I would have attempted to defend myself, it wouldn't have been pretty. I don't feel like paddling is an effective form of punishment.

**sunnykerr** · 09-22-2008, 06:52 AM

Well, I'm personally anti-spanking, but even then I have to respect parents' right to parent the way they see fit. I just think spanking teaches nothing but shame to a child, but what do I know?

My point is, is a parent spanks... at least he's a parent. Paddling should really fall under the category of physical abuse. I'm sure professionals who use it would argue that they're not doing abusively, but I don't care. Hitting a person, even on their bottom, with what is essentially a thin bat should not be allowed as a form of punishment.

**vc318** · 09-23-2008, 07:30 PM

I'm quite shocked some schools here in the United States even allow this. Whether public or not, with the level of abuse going on, I'm sort of surprised this sort of thing was approved by their school board.

**sunnykerr** · 09-25-2008, 05:38 PM

I do find it somewhat shocking myself. I'm slightly less shocked because it comes within a framework of other things that I find rather odd about the American school system as a whole... like prayer in school, the pledge of allegiance and the debate over abstinence-only sex education...

So, while this seems even more shocking than the other stuff that I find a little troublesome about the American school system...

(And, by the way, I don't mean treat the whole institution as a homogeneous entity when I say that, I merely mean to treat it in comparison to, say, the Canadian school system or the French school system. Because we all know that no one country as a completely homogeneous school system.)

...let's just say that I'm not nearly as shocked as I would be if I'd heard that this was going on in England, Canada, France, Germany... or pick your Western democratic country.