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Missouri school district reinstates spanking as punishment

‘Those on social media would probably be appalled to hear us say these things but the majority of people that I’ve run into have been supportive,’ superintendent says

Gustaf Kilander
Washington, DC
Wednesday 24 August 2022 22:55 BST
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Parent condemns reintroduction of corporal punishment in Missouri school district

A Missouri school district has reinstated spanking as punishment, claiming that some parents are grateful.

Cassville school superintendent Merlyn Johnson said his “plan, when I came to Cassville, wasn’t to be known as the guy who brought corporal punishment back to Cassville. I didn’t want that to be my legacy and I still don’t”.

“But it is something that has happened on my watch and I’m okay with it,” he told the Springfield News-Leader.

Parents have been informed that the school board for the district that includes 1,900 students voted through a policy in June to allow spanking in schools. Corporal punishment was most recently permitted in the Barry County district in 2001.

The measure is only meant to be used as a last resort and written permission from parents is required, with every family being asked to either opt in or out.

Mr Johnson told the News-Leader that Cassville is a “very traditional community in southwest Missouri” and that “parents have said ‘why can’t you paddle my student?’ and we’re like ‘We can’t paddle your student, our policy does not support that’”.

“There had been conversations with parents and there had been requests from parents for us to look into it,” he added.

“We’ve had people actually thank us for it,” he claimed. “Surprisingly, those on social media would probably be appalled to hear us say these things but the majority of people that I’ve run into have been supportive.”

“This will only be for those parents who wish to be part of it,” he added. “We respect the decision of every parent, whatever decision they make.”

The Supreme Court ruled in 1977 that corporal punishment was in accordance with the constitution, allowing each state to make its own decision.

Corporal punishment remains legal in 19 states, mostly located in the South.

Apart from Missouri, the practice is still legal in Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Wyoming.

An anonymous survey gathering the thoughts of parents, students, and school staff found earlier this year that issues surrounding discipline and the behaviour of students were areas of high concern, according to the News-Leader.

“We started generating ideas on what we could do and corporal punishment was one of the ideas,” Mr Johnson told the outlet.

He noted that the interest in an “old-fashioned disciplinary measure” was higher than expected.

Two other measures were also put in place – a Success Academy for those struggling in traditional classroom environments as well as a ban on electronics, including phones, air pods and other Bluetooth headphones, and smartwatches.

Mr Johnson found that while Cassville ceased using corporal punishment more than two decades ago, almost all the other school districts in Barry County have policies that still allow for it, but that the measure has become dormant, the local paper reported.

The policy adopted by the school board earlier this summer allows for corporal punishment “when all other alternative means of discipline have failed and then only in reasonable form and upon the recommendation of the principal”.

Mr Johnson said the policy would only be carried out by a principal, that a witness would be present, and that it would never occur in front of other students.

“When it becomes necessary to use corporal punishment, it shall be administered so that there can be no chance of bodily injury or harm. Striking a student on the head or face is not permitted,” the policy says, adding that the only form of corporal punishment allowed is “swatting the buttocks with a paddle”.

Mr Johnson told the paper that one or two swings would be permitted for younger students and up to three for older students.

According to the policy, every time a student is subjected to the measure, the principal has to report it to the superintendent, detailing the reasons why it occurred.

“No one is jumping up and down saying we want to do this because we like to paddle kids. That is not the reason that we would want to do this,” Mr Johnson said.

He said the measure could be needed because other strategies, such as detention, suspension, or positive reinforcement, may not work with students who “play the game” and whose “behaviours aren’t changing”.

“We understand that it is a bit of a shock factor,” Mr Johnson told the News-Leader. “So if there is one kid or a few kids out there that know ... there might be a different type of discipline, it might change their behaviour.”

He also noted that corporal punishment could work instead of suspension.

“The kid stays in the classroom and learns. When they are suspended, they are not with the teacher anymore,” he noted. “A lot of times when kids are out-of-school suspended, they don’t have the opportunity to make up that work. They get zeros and that is not what we want.”

Mr Johnson said the effects of the new policies will be reviewed at the end of the school year.

“We go back to the drawing board every year and look at what our needs are and reassess and come back with something different, maybe, next year,” he told the local paper.

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