Corpun file 25259 at www.corpun.com
St. Thomas Source, Saint Thomas, 20 February 2014
Bullying and Corporal Punishment Bills Discussed in Senate Committee
By Susan Ellis
Educators and senators discussed, at times passionately, bills against corporal punishment in public schools and in favor of education to prevent bullying and gang violence at a Committee on Education and Workforce Development hearing Wednesday.
Three education bills were discussed and approved, not unanimously, by Committee Chairman Donald Cole and committee members Sens. Judi Buckley, Diane Capehart, Myron Jackson, Sammuel Sanes, Tregenza Roach, Nereida "Nellie" Rivera-O'Reilly and Janette Millin Young. Noncommittee members participating in the discussions included Sens. Clarence Payne and Shawn-Michael Malone.
The bill prohibiting corporal punishment in public schools garnered the most impassioned discussion, mainly in support of the legislation.
Bill 30-0136 bans corporal punishment in public schools except in certain cases involving personal injury, destruction of property or weapons.
Buckley introduced the bill and said that 31 states, Puerto Rico and 100 countries have laws banning corporal punishment. Currently in the territory, school personnel, acting in place of parents, can discipline students and are not required to report the incidents. Elementary students, the "most frightened age group," are most often disciplined physically, Buckley said.
Assistant Commissioner of Education Sarah Mahurt said corporal punishment is "unacceptable." Schools should be safe places to learn and the department will insure the law is implemented uniformly in public schools, she said.
Speaking as an educator, parent and the president of the University of the Virgin Islands, David Hall said UVI teaches education students other means of motivating pupils than physical discipline. There is no "empirical" evidence that physical punishment is the best classroom tool, he said.
"We are long past the point of believing corporal punishment is the tool for teachers to use to achieve the goals that we have," he said. "Students and athletes do not achieve their full potential when they are operating in an atmosphere of fear."
Also speaking in support of the bill was Joshua Murray, a senior at St. Croix Central High School.
Murray said people justify the idea of corporal punishment in the Virgin Islands by saying it's "our culture."
"It is telling us we are no better than slaves and have less rights than a criminal," he said.
St. Thomas/St. John district Superintendent Jeanette Smith-Barry, an educator with 40 years experience, asked rhetorical questions about the definition of corporal punishment and how often, how frequently and how hard it was to administer. She asked if kindergarten children should be spanked and questioned what to do about an entire class that misbehaves.
"How much time should a principal spend beating students?" she asked, emotionally. "If the teacher says there is no alternative to control the class than the use of the paddle, then it's time to leave. Too much money has been spent on training."
Most senators agreed with Smith-Barry that "we must ban corporal punishment in schools."
The bill was sponsored by Buckley and Rivera-O'Reilly and had been tabled at a previous hearing. This time, it squeaked by with a 4-3 vote.
Buckley, Cole, Sanes and O'Reilly voted to move the bill forward. Jackson, Roach and Millin Young voted against. Cole said amendments must be included in the bill when it reaches the full legislature.
[...]
Follow-up: 19 December 2014 - Corporal punishment, truancy bills fail to make it out of Rules Committee
