Going back to the good old days? A charter school called The Georgia School of Innovation and the Classics (GSIC) in Hephzibah, Georgia, is reportedly bringing back the paddle to enforce more rigid disciplining practices within its quarters and, for obvious reasons, some parents and critics are not fond of the decision.
https://twitter.com/KevinCentlivre/status/1039490913809117184
“I’ve heard ‘great, it’s about time, we’re so glad that this is happening again, they should’ve never taken it out of schools.’ All the way to ‘oh my goodness, I can’t believe you are doing that,'” says Superintendent Jody Boulineau. The school official further defends the decision to return to the paddle by saying, “There was a time where corporal punishment was kind of the norm in school and you didn’t have the problems that you have.”
Of course, the paddle will not be the first measure of discipline that a child receives. According to a form of consent sent home to parents, paddling will be conducted “using a ‘three strike’ policy.” Also, hits will not be administered in front of the masses.
Glad to see this school is placing strict limits on the size of the tool they use to HIT CHILDREN.#corporalpunishment #childabuse https://t.co/MW7lUDS0m9
— chad hayes (@schadhayes) September 11, 2018
As the document stipulates, “A student will be taken into an office behind closed doors. The student will place their hands on their knees or piece of furniture and will be struck on the buttocks with a paddle.” Strikes cannot be done in private even though they are behind closed doors, which means that an adult must be present during the disciplinary session.
“I honestly feel like it’s something that’s not going to be used very often,” Boulineau shares. “Sometimes it’s just kind of the threat of it being there becomes a deterrent in itself.” We hope so!
BCK Asks: Would you feel comfortable with a teacher paddling your child? Why or why not?
