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Dont talk back you might get smacked!
Corporal punishment should be banned.
Corporal punishment is still allowed in 22 states, which means that if students misbehave they can still be hit with a paddle or be subject to another form of physical discipline.
The state that uses the most corporal punishment is Mississippi according to “Corporal Punishment in U.S. Public Schools: Prevalence, Disparities in Use, and Status in State Federal Policy.” Each year a reported 32,157 students there are affected by this physical discipline because of talking back or refusing to listen, as well as other serious issues such as bullying. The court has ruled that corporal punishment is not violating the Eighth Amendment of cruel and unusual punishment. “The Eighth Amendment, the justices said, was designed to protect convicted criminals from excessive punishments at the hands of the government not school children who misbehave,” says the New York Times. This leaves kids with a possibility of getting physically discipline for anything the school deems misbehaving. The number of states that allow this could go down to 21 depending on Kentucky’s 2019 ballot question. According to “Corporal Punishment Could Be Banned In Kentucky Schools,” State Representative Steve Riley is pushing for this question to ban all corporal punishment in schools as well as church affiliated child care facilities. “‘Basically, I don’t believe that it’s an effective discipline tool in schools,’ Riley said. ‘We have so many kids that don’t live with their parents. Their situations are so tough, the environments they’re living in are so bad that when you strike someone, hate them,’ and that’s how they perceive it,” according to Bowling Green Daily News.
Some people believe that this form of discipline will keep kids in line and teach them to be more respectful. However, these punishments could really hurt kids. In the supreme court case of Ingraham v. Wright the boy James was hit 20 times with a paddle and was out for 10 days and had to seek medical attention. This tactic physically harms kids and instills fear, which can emotionally harm a child as well. While some people may say, “I went through that when I was a kid,” they shouldn’t be complaining it was way worse back then. Shouldn’t they be the supporters of getting rid of this awful punishment. They should understand the pain and the fear it puts into kids and they should help.
“Corporal Punishment in U.S. Public Schools: Prevalence, Disparities in Use, and Status in State and Federal Policy.” Elizabeth T. Gershoff and Sarah A. Font, NCBI, 12 Jan. 2018, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5766273/
“Corporal Punishment Could Be Banned In Kentucky Schools.” Eagle Country 99.3, 28 Nov. 2018, 10:18, www.eaglecountryonline.com/news/local-news/corporal-punishment-could-be-banned-in-kentucky-schools.
“Rep. Riley tries again to ban corporal punishment.” Caroline Eggers, Bowling Green Daily News, 5 Dec. 2018.