Corporal Punishment

Corporal Punishment - Is there a place in the public school system for Corporal Punishment?

If you would have asked me this question prior having an opportunity to experience this, my answer would have been absolutely not! There would never be a reason to whip or paddle a child at school.

I moved to LA three years ago and was part of a conversation about the spankings that were going on in the public schools. I could not believe it, I thought that is terrible to publicly humiliate a child with a spanking at school. I was told a story about an Aunt of a little boy who would come to school about once a week and take this child into the bathroom and spank him. That just made my stomach turn, I thought that has to be very frightening to the other children. And that poor little boy what was going on in his life that was causing this. Another puzzling part of this to me was why was it his Aunt? Where were this little boy’s parents?

About a year later when I had an opportunity to teach in the LA Public School system, I had an opportunity to experience firsthand the public spanking of some of the children.
I had a little boy in my reading class, his name was Armond. This child could be so loving and caring or he could be an absolute terror. There was a lot to learn about Armond. Armond was being raised by his Grandparents due to his mother being drug addicted. The child had been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The doctor that was treating Armond had prescribed a medication that would help the student to better concentrate and do better in school. The student went on the medication and it sure seemed to work. The student was attentive in class for the first time all year. Armond started flourishing with his school work, he was able to sit still and pay attention to the teachers. The problem was that the Grandparents did not like how the medication was affecting his personality at home. Armond went from a free spirited little boy to what they described as quiet and reserved. The Grandparents made the decision to take Armond off of the medication. That was when the real terror began at school for Armond and the whole first grade class. The Grandparents were very loving and seemed to only want the best for their grandson. The Grandmother very frequently visited the school or called to check and see how Armond was doing.

Stay tuned for the rest of the story, the paddling does finally come around for Armond.