Parents have their own ways of disciplining their kids. And once they are inside the school premises, teachers also have their own technique on how to make sure that the students follow the rules. But this does not involve physical punishment.

For teachers, discipline can be a difficult concept to teach. Some teachers believe that this part should be left to the parents. Well, not so for a certain school in Texas.

Apparently, the school has been having a problem with misbehaving students. After all their efforts, they believe that it’s time to adopt an old-fashioned approach – corporal punishment.

The school has decided to use this traditional way of punishment on children who can’t be disciplined. And according to them, they will bring back paddling!

According to the Texas Classroom Teacher Association, they define corporal punishment is the “deliberate infliction of pain” as a way to discipline. And paddling is when someone uses a wooden paddle to hit another, and in this case, a teacher to disobedient children. This practice was very common in the olden days.

And back then, teachers paddle students who are especially misbehaving like bullying or creating chaos in the classroom. This is usually used as a final warning for students who don’t respond to detention or suspension from the school.

So, how did the parents react to this decision?

Of course, it is expected for parents to have different opinions. It might seem like a drastic measure to take but after this announcement, you will be surprised to learn that some parents actually support the practice. Some are even happy that finally, a school is doing something about it.

But according to other schools, the idea of teachers hitting their students sounds horrific. Instead of disciplining children, it only creates fear to the point that some students might not like going to school anymore. Some are also worried that the paddling could turn into abuse.

The school in question, the Three Rivers Independent School District in Texas, says that they are aware that not all parents might want their children to be paddled.

In light of this, the district gives parents the choice to opt-in. This means that parents need to provide written and verbal consent if they allow their child to be paddled in worst-case scenarios.

Also, the teacher’s association will immediately remove a child from the list in case their parent feels uncomfortable with it.

People believe that it is usually the parents who use paddling at home as a form of punishment who agree to the practice at school. These parents believe that agreeing to this will create the consistency to encourage children to behave.

This is not the first time that we’ve heard about paddling being brought back in schools as a means of discipline. Actually, 27 school districts have now adopted the practice.

John B. King Jr., the Secretary of Education does not agree with paddling. King alleges that 40,000 students, or over one-third of the students who receive corporal punishment, are black.

Also, they are 1.8 times more likely than white boys to receive this kind of punishment, while black girls are 2.9 times more likely than white girls to be punished this way.

Share on Facebook