Physical & Emotional Abuse Support Group
Abuse is a general term for the treatment of someone that causes some kind of harm (to the abused person, to the abusers themselves, or to someone else) that is unlawful or wrongful. No one deserves abuse, period. Abuse can be emotional, physical, or sexual.
Pasted in from today's
Wolf's Daily Howl:
What do you feel and think about
corporal punishment?
My position is that I'm
opposed to it. I'm opposed
to it because ---- at best ----
I see it as being ineffective.
And beyond being neutral, I've
seen that in many situations,
corporal punishment actually
models violence.
Here's a story that was in the
news yesterday. What do
you think?
Adults may paddle students of opposite gender in Texas district
By Jim Forsyth
SAN ANTONIO | Tue Sep 25, 2012 3:24pm EDT
SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - School administrators will be allowed to paddle students of the opposite sex under a rule approved unanimously Monday night by the school board in the North Texas community of Springtown.
Superintendent Michael Kelley said Tuesday the new policy would ensure both male and female students are treated equally since there are not enough administrators of both genders in some schools in Springtown, which has a population of about 2,600.
Under the previous policy, corporal punishment could only be carried out by an administrator who was of the same gender as the student. The new policy says that a school official of the same gender as the student must be in the room where the paddling takes place and that parents must provide written permission for their child to be paddled.
The punishment involves striking students on their clothed rear with a wooden paddle.
"We don't have a very large district and in our middle school there is only an assistant principal, who is a female," Kelley said. "If the old policy remains in place, then the parents of the boys at the middle school would not be able to request corporal punishment."
Texas is one of 19 states that allow public schools to administer corporal punishment, according to the Center for Effective Discipline. Even in those states, most urban schools have banned the practice and most districts that paddle kids are, like Springtown, small or rural communities. Texas allows parents to opt out of corporal punishment of their children.
In Springtown, which is northwest of Fort Worth, the paddling of two high school girls by a male assistant principal earlier this month prompted the change in policy. Kelley apologized to the girls during Monday night's school board meeting that their paddling violated the policy in place at the time.
It is not unusual for parents in Springtown to contact the school to request paddling for their children for offenses like using profanity or cheating on exams, Kelley said.
Jimmy Dunne, who heads the Texas-based group People Against Paddling Students, called Springtown's new policy "barbaric," and said he hopes it sparks debate that prompts Texas and other states to consider banning the practice.
"Children should not be hit with boards; it is legalized child abuse," Dunne said.
The Texas Association of School Boards recommends that corporal punishment be administered only by an administrator who is the same sex as the student.
Kelley said that corporal punishment works in small towns like Springtown because of the relationship between the district and the parents, most of whom have known each other all their lives.
"They're sitting beside that guy in church and they see that principal in the grocery store or at the restaurant," he said. "They have a sense of trust. So they'll call up and tell us, when their child commits an infraction, those parents will call up and tell that principal, 'Rather than in-school suspension, why don't you just give 'em a swat?'"
Wolf's Daily Howl:
What do you feel and think about
corporal punishment?
My position is that I'm
opposed to it. I'm opposed
to it because ---- at best ----
I see it as being ineffective.
And beyond being neutral, I've
seen that in many situations,
corporal punishment actually
models violence.
Here's a story that was in the
news yesterday. What do
you think?
Adults may paddle students of opposite gender in Texas district
By Jim Forsyth
SAN ANTONIO | Tue Sep 25, 2012 3:24pm EDT
SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - School administrators will be allowed to paddle students of the opposite sex under a rule approved unanimously Monday night by the school board in the North Texas community of Springtown.
Superintendent Michael Kelley said Tuesday the new policy would ensure both male and female students are treated equally since there are not enough administrators of both genders in some schools in Springtown, which has a population of about 2,600.
Under the previous policy, corporal punishment could only be carried out by an administrator who was of the same gender as the student. The new policy says that a school official of the same gender as the student must be in the room where the paddling takes place and that parents must provide written permission for their child to be paddled.
The punishment involves striking students on their clothed rear with a wooden paddle.
"We don't have a very large district and in our middle school there is only an assistant principal, who is a female," Kelley said. "If the old policy remains in place, then the parents of the boys at the middle school would not be able to request corporal punishment."
Texas is one of 19 states that allow public schools to administer corporal punishment, according to the Center for Effective Discipline. Even in those states, most urban schools have banned the practice and most districts that paddle kids are, like Springtown, small or rural communities. Texas allows parents to opt out of corporal punishment of their children.
In Springtown, which is northwest of Fort Worth, the paddling of two high school girls by a male assistant principal earlier this month prompted the change in policy. Kelley apologized to the girls during Monday night's school board meeting that their paddling violated the policy in place at the time.
It is not unusual for parents in Springtown to contact the school to request paddling for their children for offenses like using profanity or cheating on exams, Kelley said.
Jimmy Dunne, who heads the Texas-based group People Against Paddling Students, called Springtown's new policy "barbaric," and said he hopes it sparks debate that prompts Texas and other states to consider banning the practice.
"Children should not be hit with boards; it is legalized child abuse," Dunne said.
The Texas Association of School Boards recommends that corporal punishment be administered only by an administrator who is the same sex as the student.
Kelley said that corporal punishment works in small towns like Springtown because of the relationship between the district and the parents, most of whom have known each other all their lives.
"They're sitting beside that guy in church and they see that principal in the grocery store or at the restaurant," he said. "They have a sense of trust. So they'll call up and tell us, when their child commits an infraction, those parents will call up and tell that principal, 'Rather than in-school suspension, why don't you just give 'em a swat?'"
Thanks for all your responses!
As a teenager, I was slapped
across the face by my mother
one day, in the middle of
crossing the street.
I hsf made an observation
about something. . . . that
happened to be a
true thing (not a misbehavior
of mine. . . . but of something
I'd realized about Her).
It taught me two things.
One was to be careful
when truth-telling
around an abuser.
The slap was so hard
it sent me flying backwards
and I fell down into the
grate of a storm drain.
I wasn't physically hurt
but I was utterly humiliated,
as the scene took place
in full view of my visiting
relatives and everyone
on the street.
The second thing it
taught me was that
violence HURTS.
Once in a very great while,
we are called upon to
defend ourself physically.
And once in a very, very
great while there may
be a need to intervene
in the attempted domination
of a political tyrant. (Hitler
comes to mind.)
Apart from those very rare
exceptions, I don't see
violence as being effective.
And I find it abhorrent when
perpetrated upon a child!!!!!!!!!
Teach peace.
Wage love!
There are different forms of corporal punishment and different ways in which it is handed out. Slapping a teenager in the street, hitting ANYONE from a standpoint of anger is always wrong. I also think that using any form of "instrument" - be it a paddle, a belt, whatever - to hit a child is also absolutely wrong. And I think that there is no excuse for hitting someone else's child.
But I do think there is room for debate about some instances of parents using smacking, particularly before the age of being able to genuinely reason with the child. Which is not to say I think it's right, only to say I think there is room for debate about it.
There is NOT, though, (in my view) room for debate about paddling someone else's child in order to avoid a detention or some other punishment.
To allow it upon your own children is totally careless behavior on the part of the parent.
Of course, after the kids have been conditioned to violence in the home and violence in the school...what better extension than to hand them a gun, put them on a ship or plane, and send them off to Iraq or Afghanistan...but, that's a whole new topic.
That being said, I spanked my son once or twice in extreme circumstances when he was young. Beyond that I would never, ever let another person physically reprimand my kid.
Imo this society is getting dangerously close to that becoming the norm as in the example of some abuses executed by airport security upon children and the elderly. That type of invasion DOES NOT make thios a safer society, and in fact makes it far more unsafe when our constitutional rights are trampled. But that is another topic also.
'Our children are our greatest asset for the future. They may be the one's taking care of you on your death bed. We must never mistreat them or ourselves and we must work to make sure that those children always feel safe, empowered, and loved.'
I agree totally with this.
Spanking/hitting does not teach respect, it teaches fear. That is what I was taught as a child through physical punishment. I grew up fearing those who perpetrated their abuse used under the guise of discipline or punishment. It not only severly affected my self esteem but it affected my ability to trust so I really take offense to the article stating that "they have a sense of trust." Just because they have known some of the administrators a long time DOES NOT mean they should entrust the care and discipline of their children to them and it also does not mean that they can possibly know everything about them, such as their sexual preferences, habits or desires. There is absolutely no way for them to know that.
And I agree as far as those high school girls are concerned, their corporal punishment was imo sexual harrassment. The problem is that their parents not only allowed it but endorsed it. But it is possible that when those girls grow up and become adults they very well could sue the admins themselves.
We are yet in the Dark Ages, in my opinion. In so far as a swat on a child that has run toward the street...my question is, "Where are the parents?" And, "Why do you live so close to a busy street with toddlers?"
The toddlers cannot make decisions for themselves...and swatting them to teach them is counter-intuitive. These are children, not dogs...and, arguably, you shouldn't even do your dogs this way.
They don't even know how to educate children.
My OPINION, the world has just gotten worse and people should wake up and smell the coffee.
I was physically and mentally abused growing up.
I did not "plan" on having a child because I was just not into children. I saw how children were wild and parents spanking them, etc. I just did not want the headache. Little did I know that I would have a son and the emotions of LOVE that poured from my soul the day he was born was unlike anything I had ever experienced.
Raising my son was a breeze. I TALKED to him and EXPLAINED everything to him and he never had tantrums or CRIED unless he fell while playing. I used to sit and cry and could never understand HOW my parents (both) could raise a hand to me and beat me??!! I could never do that to my child.
They are innocent and at a young age all they are capable of doing is to mimic their parents. So You see a misbehaving child and you've got a misbehaving parent unless of course the child is getting abused by someone else.
I know I am going off on a rant here, but this just strikes a nerve with me.
Beating teaches beating, whether it is with a paddle or a tree branch.
The abuser has no self control so they lash out.
They beat, because they dislike themselves.
It teaches NOTHING. All people need to do is talk and discuss bad behavior.
Take away privileges, talk, discuss!!!
No reason to be beating on anyone it does not work.
I have met people who have told me "my parents did it to me, so I will do it to my child"
HELLO? Are you that ignorant?
I did not enjoy the fear, I did not enjoy the blood, I did not enjoy urinating on myself, I did not enjoy the nightmares, so why would I do that to my own child?...
I am sorry, I don't mean to be writing a novel, but when I get going I get going, especially about hitting kids..............
I also enjoyed what "Learned" wrote.
A little girl repeatedly puts herself in harms way by constantly trying to put objects in a power outlet. Child gets spanking (a swat on the behind) to get her attention and then given a sterner warning. Effective parenting.
I firmly believe that you should never ever use your hands, fist, feet, in the disiplining of children.
I disagree that any public entity should have the right to spank your children without you being present and with your permission.
I grew up in a school that carried paddles. My baby brother was leaned over getting water out of the water fountain and the principal waslked by and whacked him so hard it left bruises and welts. My brother to this day has not gotten over that!