Georgia Must Abolish Corporal punishment in Schools

[undertheboardwalk]

Open Letter to Georgia Lawmakers

We are writing you today regarding the new ACLU report called “Impairing Education” that was released in August 2009. Please download the report here: http://www.hrw.org/node/84950. This study/report chronicles the problem with corporal punishment in schools and particularly focuses on the problems within the state of Georgia. We believe that corporal punishment in schools is inappropriate, ineffective and can be an abusive practice, particularly for the most vulnerable and at risk youth in our great state. We believe this practice is negatively affecting student achievement for minority and disabled students. The ACLU report found that minority and disabled students were subject to this practice more often.

One district reported over 2,300 ‘corporal punishments’ in 2008 records. We believe that these figures indicate that the practice is not working and it is likely that the same students are repeatedly paddled over and over again, with no positive result.

We are asking the Georgia State department of Education to issue an immediate moratorium on the use of corporal punishment in all of Georgia schools, including alternative education settings and we want the Georgia Legislature to Repeal Corporal Punishment in Schools Immediately. This practice is inappropriate for 21st Century classrooms. As stakeholders in the Georgia public school system, we fear for the safety of our children and that of others. We are keenly aware of the statutes governing corporal punishment in Georgia; namely: O.C.G.A 20-2-730; O.C.G.A. 20-2-731; and O.C.G.A. 20-2-732 as well as statutes 20-2-1000 and 20-2-1001 that speak to criminal and civil immunity of educators. We believe that districts are not conveying to stakeholders that if a parent is against corporal punishment that they have the opportunity to submit a letter in writing signed by a licensed medical professional stating it would be physically or mentally harmful for the child. If this was adequately conveyed to parents, we believe the number of corporal punishments would be far less than what was reported to the State Department of Education and what was investigated by the ACLU. We are concerned with closing the achievement gap so that Georgia can compete nationally and globally. We also believe that corporal punishment in school can negatively impact students; can subject students to the possibility of severe injuries, and can cause mental harm that can last a lifetime. Please read the study by Dr. E.T. Gershoff –“ What research tells us about the Physical Discipline of Children” - http://www.phoenixchildrens.com/PDFs/principles_and_practices-of_effective_discipline.pdf.

Please issue an immediate moratorium on Corporal Punishment in Georgia schools, to include alternative education settings.
We look forward to hearing from you regarding the status of our request.

Sincerely

Signed by parents and stake holders in the Georgia public school system


Write to the georgia Lawmakers by a doing a look up here:
http://www.legis.state.ga.us/

[onehandle]

1. Jesus Christ! They still do that here?

If those fuckers ever hit my nephews, I would raise Hell.

I'll have to ask my brother about this.

[undertheboardwalk]

2. what county?

What county is it? , I can email the public record I received from an open records request. I will tell you what was recorded for 2008. As soon as it's January, I will be looking for 2009 records and will do comparisons. I have hunch the numbers are not going down, but I will check in January. Send me pm.

[morillon]

11. Wow! I had no idea.

They still had it when I was in school a few decades ago, but I thought nobody got paddled anymore. When I was in school, kids not only got paddlings but also could be slapped whenever a teacher felt like it. My third grade teacher slapped me because I was fidgeting in my desk during a standardized test and it looked like I might be about to read into the next section of the test. I finished way early and was bored to death.

[BlooInBloo]

3. hahahaha! They're still allowed to do that???

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[undertheboardwalk]

4. Yes they do

Yes they do it and they have Immunity. If a child is injured by a 230 pound educator wielding a board, they are immune.

[BlooInBloo]

5. Heh. We'll see how immune he is, if he touched my kid.

[undertheboardwalk]

6. That could get you charged wtih a crime, parents are powerless

You speak of parental frustration with these sad facts. Believe me when I tell you the educrats want us parents to fall back on 'local control', when we know our whole state looks silly right now.

Read Impairing education:

http://www.hrw.org/node/84950

And A violent Education:

http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2008/08/19/violent-education

[BlooInBloo]

7. I'm ok with that. I'm pretty sure no other educator would touch my kid a 2nd time.

[undertheboardwalk]

8. let me repost

Precisely why the law needs to be changed, because we cannot have this level of frustration ruin our schools. It's a terrible situation and unknowing parents and kids are being caught in the middle.

[undertheboardwalk]

9. The Pro Hitting Crowd

Are misinformed that hitting children makes them 'respect authority'. My question is how can you respect authority when you show the kids that hitting is what you get when you don't follow the 'rules'. Would any adult submit to a paddling when they did wrong on the job? No! they wouldn't but this is getting shoved down parents throats and we don't want it in Georgia anymore.

[Trillo]

12. Good for you!

And thanks for the links, that report is intriguing.

[trixie]

10. The south scares me

[Stardust]

13. I knew a teacher in FL (several years ago) who chose to work at a private school

because they still allowed corporal punishment. She was a devout Christian. I always thought that was a dichotomy. :shrug:

[undertheboardwalk]

16. devout christian?

A devout christian hiding behind their beliefs to justify hitting children is noting new. But I am proud to say My Church has a decree against it. Not all of us Christians are nutty enough to believe that hitting children is justified in any teachings of Jesus Christ.

[Stardust]

17. I, too, am proud that your church has a decree against corporal

punishment. Since she and her church were the last Christians I've associated with, I (maybe falsely) assumed it was a trend in Christianity. I should know better and I admire you for defending your beliefs that I don't share without flaming me. Some of the most humane, deep-down-to-the-bone kindest people I've had the pleasure of knowing have been *true* Christians. That's why I thought it odd that they would advocate violence against virtually powerless children.

[jbnow]

14. When my kids were in school I learned they did paddle kids.

I went in to see the principal and object to it in general but also tell him that if they were ever planning on paddling my kids they had to call and talk to me first. I didn't hit themand it would take some convincing to get me to agree that was the best discipline for whatever situation.

He said my kids would never get paddled...but they didn't have clear guidelines about when to paddle. I fully expect all of my kids to misbehave at times, how could he say that? I didn't like his explanation for that...sounded like a class thing.
But when we got on to the general policy it was even worse. He said the kids they paddle are usually beat at home anyways, it wasn't a big deal.

Oh boy did we talk then

[undertheboardwalk]

15. So what you state is exactly what plays out in the studies

The profound ignorance of an educator implying that it doesn't matter anyway, disgusts me. Of course it doesn't matter to them (the educator). A Violent Education by the Human Rights Watch and ACLU goes into just how it is for the most disenfranchised children. It is them that suffers.. In the end our education system suffers and society suffers. It doesn't matter to them. People with this mentality need to be charged with child cruelty on my opinion. What gives THEM the right?