Corpun file 12965

Kingsport Times-News, Tennessee, 1 March 2004

Is paddling best way to discipline Tenn. students?

Why are Tennessee schools so paddle-prone? According to the most recent survey by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights, 44,860 students were paddled in Tennessee elementary, middle and high schools during the 1999-2000 school year.

That's 4.2 percent of the student population, up from 4 percent in 1997-98, the first increase in more than a decade.

In fact, Tennessee is ranked fourth in the percentage of students receiving corporal punishment among the 50 states.

The top paddling state in the nation is Mississippi with 9.1 percent of students paddled in 2000; Arkansas, also at 9.1 percent, is second; and Alabama is third at 5.4 percent. The department's study also shows that black students are paddled more than twice as often as other students, proportionate to the overall school population.

Locally, according to the latest Office For Civil Rights survey, Kingsport, Bristol, Sullivan, Hawkins and Washington schools all reported less than 5 percent of their students were paddled in the 2001-2002 school year. Johnson City, Rogersville and Elizabethton schools reported no incidences of paddling during the period.

Tennessee's overall fourth-place ranking, however, may well mask an even greater prevalence of paddling. That's because in Tennessee students are reported as receiving corporal punishment only one time even though they may have been paddled numerous times throughout the year.

U.S. Department of Education statistics show that the use of corporal punishment has declined significantly since the early 1970s, when many states began to outlaw the practice. The numbers tell the story: In 2000, the most recent year for which figures are available from the Department of Education, 342,038 public school students were paddled, down from 1.5 million in 1976. Since 1976 the nation's school population has increased significantly - a further indication of how most schools are sparing the rod.

These figures only include public schools - there are no statistics on paddlings in private and religious schools.

Many anti-paddling advocates correctly point out that when it comes to paddling, a school child has less legal protection than someone in jail or the armed services. Indeed, under U.S. law, children are the only class of individuals who can be legally struck.

A decision last month by the Canadian Supreme Court to outlaw the use of corporal punishment by teachers has left the United States and a lone state in Australia as the only parts of the industrialized world to allow corporal punishment in schools, according to anti-paddling activists.

While 28 U.S. states have outlawed paddling during the past three decades, the practice remains a classroom constant across much of the Bible Belt.

Perhaps paddling remains as commonplace as it does in the South because of that old biblical admonition to spare the rod and spoil the child, but it's ultimately impossible to demonstrate the rule's efficacy. There's no particular evidence, for example, to show that children in Virginia, where corporal punishment has been banned for approximately a decade, are any more "spoiled" than their Tennessee counterparts.

Virginia doesn't have a greater share of dropouts or juvenile delinquents than Tennessee. Similarly, there doesn't seem to be any particular reason that Kingsport or Sullivan students should receive paddlings when their fellow students in Johnson City or Elizabethton or Rogersville do not.

The suspicion lingers that paddling survives in Tennessee and some surrounding states not because it produces more disciplined students, but merely because it was done so in the past. If that is true, parents, educators and lawmakers need to take a fresh look at the practice and ask some reasonable questions about it, including liability, and whether the reasons for continuing this practice outweigh the physical and emotional harm it does to children.

The discipline of children may be achieved in a variety of ways. Most of the world and much of the U.S. decided long ago that beating children was not the best way to achieve that desired goal. That doesn't necessarily make Tennessee wrong, but it should make Tennesseans question if it's the right approach.

Copyright 2002, Kingsport Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved

Corpun file 12908

Herald-Palladium, St Joseph-Benton Harbor, Michigan, 5 March 2004

Benton Harbor teachers accused of hitting students

By Lynn Stevens
H-P Staff Writer

BENTON HARBOR -- A high school teacher resigned, a junior high teacher was temporarily suspended and a substitute elementary teacher was dropped from a call list after the three men were investigated for allegedly using corporal punishment on students in the Benton Harbor Area Schools district late last year.

The high school teacher admitted using a paddle on a boy's bare buttocks, and the junior high teacher admitted striking two girls with his belt, according to copies of the two investigations that The Herald-Palladium obtained this week under the federal Freedom of Information Act. The Berrien County prosecutor declined to bring charges in either case.

The substitute teacher allegedly punched two 10-year-old boys, a Benton Township policeman told the newspaper in December. But on Thursday the department could not locate files on that investigation.

All three incidents happened in November and early December. A district official said this week that although they happened within a short time, the timing appears to have been a fluke. She said the district in the meantime has reminded employees that corporal punishment is forbidden.

Benton Harbor High School teacher Curtis Gulledge, 28, admitted to school officials and police that on Dec. 11 he offered a 16-year-old male student, who had cut choir class, a choice between a second referral to the principal's office or a whipping.

When the boy chose the whipping, Gulledge ordered him into a storage room behind his office, ordered him to strip from the waist down and struck his buttocks repeatedly with a paddle, according to the investigation.

Gulledge resigned a short time later.

In a February letter to school Superintendent Paula Dawning, Berrien County Prosecutor James Cherry explained why he was not prosecuting Gulledge.

"Had Gulledge not admitted to using this form of punishment, not apologized for his actions (to the student's guardian) and had not resigned his position as a teacher, I would have chosen to charge him with assault," Cherry wrote. "Had he acted in anger, I would have charged him with assault. Had there been any indication the punishment was sexual in nature, I would have charged him with criminal sexual conduct."

Gulledge declined to comment on the case to The Herald-Palladium other than to say he is not involved in teaching anymore.

In another February letter, this one to Benton Township Police Sgt. Vince Fetke, Cherry explained why he was not filing criminal assault charges against Fairplain Junior High School teacher Reinaldo Tripplett for striking two 13-year-old girls with his belt.

Cherry wrote that neither the girls nor their parents wished to pursue criminal charges in the Dec. 9 incident. The girls and Tripplett characterized his striking them in a locked classroom as "horseplay" and "funning around," Cherry wrote. He said that in his judgment it would be unlikely that any jury would find Tripplett guilty of assault.

According to investigation reports, Tripplett, 43, and the two girls were making so much noise in the classroom above hers that teacher Joyce Robinson went upstairs to investigate. She told police and school officials that when she knocked on the locked door, Tripplett opened it. He had a leather belt in one hand and perspiration on his forehead, she said. She reported he told the two girls, who were sitting in a corner of the room, "Do you think I'm playing with you?" and then struck them with the belt on the buttocks and upper legs about four times.

Robinson told investigators the girls had been laughing, but after Tripplet started hitting them with his belt they put up their hands and yelled for him to stop.

In a phone interview Thursday, Tripplett would not speak to the specific allegations, saying only that "the Lord has vindicated me."

He said he returned to work Feb. 23.

"I'm back to work, and I love my students and my students love me," Tripplett said.

The third case concerned a male substitute teacher who allegedly punched two 10-year-old boys at the Creative Arts/Gifted and Talented Academy in late November.

In December, Benton Township Patrolman Jeff Faraone confirmed to the newspaper that he had investigated that allegation. But Faraone did not return calls on the case this year, and neither Chief Jimmie Coburn nor Detective Lt. Delmar Lange could locate files on that investigation Thursday.

Nora Jefferson, the school district's assistant superintendent for human resources and labor relations, said this week that she was familiar with the case and that the teacher would never again be called to substitute in the Benton Harbor Area Schools.

The district responds

Jefferson said although the three incidents happened within a short period of time, the timing seemed purely coincidental.

"I kind of look at them as isolated incidents," Jefferson said. "Sometimes, when you really, really look at a situation, that was not the situation. We have some wonderful teachers. I think there was a lapse of judgment in these situations."

Jefferson denied the district permits an atmosphere condoning battery. She said the school district has a policy forbidding corporal punishment, and employees have been reminded of it since the three incidents.

"The language has been redistributed to all the employees in the district," Jefferson said. "It was sent to building principals to duplicate and submit to all employees."

Copyright © 2004 The Herald-Palladium

Corpun file 12906

Herald Bulletin, Anderson, Indiana, 7 March 2004

Needed: A paddling policy with no butts about it

By Jack Williams

When I read about the recent classroom controversy in a Mississippi school district, it brought back the sting of a junior high school memory -- a memory I thought I had successfully repressed.

Perhaps you heard about the middle school assistant principal who disobeyed a supervisor's orders to paddle students. Adamant that paddling 10 to 15 students each day was not the best use of his administrative skills, he resigned his job before the school could fire him for insubordination.

According to the Department of Education, Mississippi paddles more of its students -- 10 percent -- than any other state, followed by Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Oklahoma and other southern and Bible belt states.

Punishment by paddle is a practice that went into steep decline in the early '70s as educators pursued other disciplinary methods. Unfortunately, I was in junior high in the late '60s. At Perry East Junior High on the far south edge of Indianapolis, our teachers instilled in us these three mottoes: "Today's good students become tomorrow's good citizens," "You won't always be a social klutz," and "Rodney, out in the hall for three whacks."

Every day, it seemed, one of our teachers would interrupt class and usher a classmate out into the hall. Nothing could hush a class faster as we leaned in our desks toward the door to hear a terse exchange that usually ended with something like "Reach for your ankles, Eddie." What followed was a few seconds of silence (Was Mr. Turley taking a few practice cuts?), after which we heard a deafening Crrraaaaccckkk!!!!! We felt Eddie's pain and winced with each wallop, a set of three was school policy. We convulsed -- briefly -- with laughter but found our straight faces before the teacher, whose face was now a little more relaxed, and the student, whose face was now a little red, finally returned.

But the teacher who coined the infamous "three whacks" threat was an aging wood shop teacher whose name, Clem Naugle, proved that, indeed, truth is stranger than fiction. In a kind of swaggering voice of one who might have recently had a stroke, he'd look out over his young men and try to assess who exactly had made that farting noise.

"Tim Stitch!"

"Yes, Mr. Naugle?"

"Was that you?"

"No, Mr. Naugle."

"Tim Stitch!"

"Yes, Mr. Naugle?"

"Out in the hall for three whaaacks."

I escaped the wrath of Clem and other Perry East teachers until eighth grade. That's when I first learned of an obscure, at least to me, school rule stating that if a student's combination lock was not found to be secured on his or her hall locker, the offender had, you guessed it, one whack coming. When Mr. Shaw approached me about my missing lock, I was more than a little anxious. I can still hear him telling me, 35 years later, to let him know when I was ready for my whack. Slightly traumatized, I avoided Mr. Shaw the rest of the year, even though I was in his Algebra class. Each day I moved stealthily from bus to class and back again, hiding behind an incognito disguise of long hair and books stacked up past my face.

I don't remember any great debate about corporal punishment back in those days. But, it's a debate whose time may have come, since last month Canada banned the practice of paddling, leaving the United States and Australia as the only remaining countries in a mostly non-student-spanking world. A little history may prove interesting here: Poland was the first country to ban the paddle in 1783, followed soon thereafter by the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy, Belgium, Austria and so on until European schools were eventually a paddle free environment. But in the U.S., more than 20 states condone the practice, including Indiana, where disciplinary policies are left to local school boards.

I'm sure Mr. Shaw would have reminded me of these facts had I challenged him on the "one whack for a lost lock" rule. Still, I couldn't imagine going up to him and saying, "Mr. Shaw, I know you're a busy man, but do you have time now to bludgeon my backside?" How stupid would that be?

Due to my use of common sense -- or perhaps Mr. Shaw just forgot -- I escaped his swat that year. In fact, I was about to graduate from junior high and escape paddling altogether when I met Mr. Hunt, a P.E. teacher who was finishing out the semester for another teacher. Mr. Hunt carried his paddle with him the way some teachers carried their grade book. For him, it was an indispensable tool in the war against student ignorance.

In my last week at Perry East Junior High, I arrived at gym class a little late along with some other tardy buddies. As we were nonchalantly changing into shorts and T-shirts in the locker room, Mr. Hunt approached us from the, ahem, rear. Now in many schools today, whacking happens in the presence of another witness --a school administrator, perhaps -- and only with prior parental consent. But Mr. Hunt's policy was one of corporal punishment by ambush, so I didn't even see it coming. I might add that I was in that phase of dress where you're not quite in your bell bottom Levi's and not exactly in your red gym shorts either.

Since my locker was on the end, I got the first swat, the first and the last of my scholastic career. Mr. Hunt then yelled at the other latecomers to assume the "bend over" position while he played home run derby.

I was reminded of that painful memory this past week when I read the story about the Mississippi paddling controversy. And I briefly entertained the possibility of a conspiracy theory. Could it be that Mr. Hunt was delivering a little reminder from Mr. Shaw?

© 2004 The Herald Bulletin.

Corpun file 13031

ABCActionNews.com (WFTS, Tampa, Florida), 8 March 2004

Spanking among many issues at charter school, district says

an ABC Action News report

TAMPA - A bay area charter school may be a hit with parents, but the school district says there's too much hitting going on.

The Hillsborough County School District has a long list of complaints against Prince Community Academy, claiming there are financial problems and teachers who aren't certified. But perhaps the most glaring problem at the school, the district says, is that they use an incredible amount of corporal punishment.

Roughly half of the 55 students enrolled in the charter school told ABC Action News they have been paddled this school year. That's more than the number of paddlings at every traditional Hillsborough public school combined.

"No regular school in this system paddles 50 percent of their children. The number of children administered corporal punishment in this district is far under one percent," district spokesman Mark Hart observed.

"We do use corporal punishment. What they may feel is too much is not what Prince Community Academy or the parents feel," countered Stella Prince, the academy's director.

"The corporal punishment is no big deal. You know, back in the days when I was growing up, we all got spankings. A little spanking on the butt is not enough to close down Prince Academy," parent Mary Gray added.

Aside from the paddling concerns, the district says, there are enough problems to pull the school's charter seven months into its first year.

The school's director says the best way to tell if this school is working well is to see if the kids get a year's worth of education in a single year. They want the year to prove what they can do

A performance review committee recommended pulling the school's charter. But parents met with the school board Monday morning and the superintendent agreed to discipline the school without pulling its charter.

The E.W. Scripps Co. ©

Corpun file 13030

Mineral Wells Index, Mineral Wells, Texas, 8 March 2004

Community lucky to have someone like Coach West

Dear Editor,

I am writing this letter in response to several articles I have read about the spanking incident that recently occurred at MWHS. Like some who have written, I am also a former student/athlete of MWHS.

Let me start off by saying that I do not back corporal punishment 100 percent, but I do believe that the situation has been blown well out of proportion. Unlike the other people writing in and criticizing the coaching staff, I have witnessed some of these "spankings" in person. With that in mind, let me say that they are less severe than being popped pretty hard with a wet towel in the locker room.

I was raised in a Christian house where spankings were a pretty regular occurrence at a young age, nothing out of hand of course, but enough to give some incentive as not to misbehave. Also like many others, if I received a spanking at school, I received one at home. If you look at the problem children of today, much of if directs back to a lack of discipline in the home. Ironically, these are the same parents who have a problem with their children receiving slight corporal punishment for failing classes and letting their entire team down in the process.

In response to Mr. Bowen's letter, you cannot place the loss of a football game on the coaches alone. I was also in attendance for the game, and it is hard to make halftime adjustments for fumbling the ball and missing blocking assignments. That part comes down to commitment and practice. The same commitment that it takes to be an athlete while passing your classes.

Winning is the incentive for having good practices and commitment. Sort of like avoiding punishment such as spankings is an incentive to pass your classes. Actually, many times athletes are given a choice whether to receive "swats" of do some other kind of physical punishment such as bear crawling or pushing a plate across the ground, more times than not they choose the swats. This shows how the students feel about it. Personally, I feel if an athlete can't pass their classes to start with they don't even need to be playing sports. They should probably invest their time in improving their academics.

As far as the incident with Mrs. West goes, I feel that she made the right decision. I feel that every person at the game should support their team 100 percent, but they should do it from the stands. It is not appropriate to be talking with the team during the game. In fact, many times the athlete will be punished for talking with people that are off the field. I think the fact that the student had been removed from the team is irrelevant to the situation.

I for one think we are lucky to have a coach that will try to take some initiative in raising some of these young men. This will be the closest thing to a disciplinary parent figure any of these people will ever have. I believe our country's growing problem is a lack of what this guy promotes. Discipline.

Nathan R. Thompson
Abilene, Texas

Copyright Mineral Wells Index

Corpun file 12903

Punxsutawney Spirit, Pennsylvania, 9 March 2004

Discipline policy on hold after tie vote

By Darcy L. Smith
Of The Spirit

PUNXSUTAWNEY - A tie vote has the Punxsutawney Area School Board unsure about the future of corporal punishment.

The district directors were asked yesterday to decide whether or not to approve a new discipline policy which allows teachers to use spankings as a form of punishment.

Directors Milt Tyler, Jack White, Terry Fedigan and Robert Pascuzzo voted in favor of the policy, while Directors Mary Minster, Melanie Weaver, Dr. John Ivey and Kirby Starr opposed the policy.

In the absence of Director Ed McGinnis - who has decided not to attend meetings since his unsought election victory was certified in January - the tie could not be broken.

Because the new policy was not approved, the existing policy - which also includes corporal punishment - remains in effect.

"(The new policy) will be on continuous second read until we make some decision," District Superintendent Dr. Thomas Frantz said.

When the new discipline policy was first drafted, Frantz said the corporal punishment language was removed. However, when the policy was introduced to the board, Tyler asked that the corporal punishment clause be re-instated.

In the directors' committee meeting last month, the directors showed their division on the matter.

At that meeting Minster asked that corporal punishment be removed from the new discipline policy.

"There are other disciplinary avenues we can go down without corporal punishment," Minster said. "To me, that's beating."

Tyler said he felt the policy should include the corporal punishment clause.

"Anyone who reads the PSBA literature or the teachers' union literature knows that the biggest problem our educators are facing is discipline," Tyler said. "I know (the policy) hasn't been used in many years, but times change. It would be harder to put it back in later than to just leave it in there for now. And it should be there if the need should arise."

Minster argued that just because the policy has always been there, doesn't necessarily mean it should continue to exist.

"Just because it's harder to get it back in doesn't mean it should be there," Minster said. "Just because it's been there doesn't mean it should be there."

In response to Tyler's suggestion that the policy would serve as a deterrent to student discipline problems, Minster disagreed and added that the policy could be costly if used.

"You're going to get sued," Minster said. "All those kids would need is some doctor to say they received bodily harm."

Director Kirby Starr added his agreement to Minster's position.

"It's not our position to correct behavior," Starr said. "Discipline should be handled at home."

Tyler suggested opponents to corporal punishment may change their mind about the policy if they "spend some time in a classroom."

The policy will most likely be revisited once McGinnis officially resigns and is replaced.

Earlier in the meeting, the directors unloaded their last two unused buildings.

........................................

Copyright © 2004. Punxsutawney Spirit

Corpun file 12918

Tuscaloosa News, Alabama, 11 March 2004

Suit filed against coach for paddling

Northport teacher accused of violating school board policy

By Adam Jones
Staff Writer

Members of the 2002 Collins-Riverside football team could expect one lick from coach Mike Griffin for every "F" on a report card and two licks for taking equipment from school.

If a team member refused to take the licks, he was kicked off the team and removed from sixth-period athletics.

Earlier this week, Griffin’s list of rules became a key part of a lawsuit filed against the physical education teacher in May 2002 by Ronald and Rebecca Hebert, the parents of Ryan Hebert.

"I wonder, as do my clients, to what extent the County Board of Education approves of Mr. Griffin’s private policies regarding corporal punishment," Hebert’s attorney Richard Newton said.

According to the lawsuit, Griffin paddled Hebert twice during the 2001-2002 school year when Hebert was in the eighth grade at the middle school in Northport.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Birmingham, claims that Griffin violated the Tuscaloosa County Board of Education corporal punishment policy by paddling Hebert out of anger and using excessive force in violation of his constitutional civil rights.

Griffin also violated county policy, the suit claims, by paddling Hebert in front of another student without a teacher present and not providing his parents with a written explanation.

Clay Carr, Griffin's attorney, said he couldn't comment on the specifics of Griffin’s policy, but he said Griffin was not in violation of Board of Education capital [sic] punishment policies.

"Mr. Griffin has done nothing wrong, and it's our intention to prove that in court," Carr said.

At deposition of Griffin Jan. 28, Newton discovered that Griffin, possibly with other teachers, had additional policies for corporal punishment, and on March 8, Carr sent the rules to Newton as requested.

The rules were "intended for the benefit of entire team," and had a goal of promoting individual discipline, team morale and help maintain good academic standing, according to a copy of the rules.

There may be nothing improper about Griffin’s policy because teachers can have their own guidelines for administering corporal punishment, said Ray Ward, attorney for the Board of Education.

"There’s not a rigid set of policies," Ward said. "There’s nothing fact specific because it's left up to the discretion of school officials."

The county's corporal punishment policy, which hasn't changed since it was adopted in 1992, permits "reasonable corporal punishment" in an effort to "teach good citizenship by requiring proper conduct," according to the policy.

The punishment cannot be more than three licks to the buttocks, and the corporal punishment instrument "should be wisely selected," according to the policy.

Carr said he could not comment on whether the one lick per "F" rule violated the three-lick maximum rule.

"Anytime a teacher corporally punishes a child with a piece of wood outside the bounds of Board policy, by definition that's excessive," Newton said.

The policy states that corporal punishment must be administered with another teacher or administrator present, outside the presence of other students and without anger or malice.

The suit also contends the board's policy is not administered consistently throughout the system and needs to be fixed or enforced differently.

"The school system supports Coach Griffin," Ward said. "In as much as the board knows, we do not see any violations of the law."

Newton has filed a motion to compel Griffin to appear for another deposition, but the court has not ruled on the motion.

A deposition of a Northport investigating officer is scheduled for today. Carr said the officer found no evidence of wrongdoing in a complaint and closed the case.

Newton said the officer closed the case after calling Principal Glenn Taylor.

"It's my understanding Taylor told the officer that Griffin didn't violate board policies, when in fact, the merest scratch of the surface shows Mr. Griffin violated board policies," Newton said.

The case has not been scheduled for a trial. Since the case is a civil case, there are no criminal charges pending against Griffin.

The policy

The county's corporal punishment policy permits "reasonable corporal punishment" in an effort to "teach good citizenship by requiring proper conduct." The punishment cannot be more than three licks to the buttocks. It must be administered with another teacher or administrator present, outside the presence of other students and without anger or malice.

Copyright © 2002 The Tuscaloosa News

Follow-up: 24 March 2004 - Disagree with story about coach

Corpun file 13818

Tuscaloosa News, Alabama, 18 March 2004

Children no longer are disciplined

Dear Editor: As a retired teacher, I well remember my first day on the job as a teacher in Tuscaloosa County. I had accidentally attended the all-black teacher orientation meeting, not realizing that the faculties were integrating during my first year of teaching.

There was much anxiety expressed during that meeting about what would become of discipline in the schools with black teachers faced with disciplining white children and white teachers faced with disciplining black children. As it turned out, that was the beginning of the end for paddling and school discipline in general.

In later years in Florida, I saw parents bringing lawyers with them to teacher-parent conferences. Now we've come a full 180 degrees from the days when a student could expect a worse "whuppin" at home if he had got one at school. We have a public education system that can no longer expect parental discipline for misbehavior in school, but rather litigation from parents when teachers are forced to handle the discipline responsibilities that parents refuse to assume.

It's a sad caricature of America in which I see my grandchildren growing up.

Gary Simpson
Southwest Ranches, Fla.

Copyright © 2002 The Tuscaloosa News

Corpun file 12945

Indianapolis Star, 19 March 2004

2 IPS teachers are suspended for paddling

By Eunice Trotter

Two Indianapolis Public Schools teachers have been suspended after six third-graders were spanked multiple times with a board.

The punishment was ordered by third-grade teacher Rachelle B. Phifer, who had fifth-grade teacher Ulysses Coleman Jr. administer the paddling, school officials confirmed Thursday. Both are teachers at School 48 at 3445 Central Ave.

One boy was treated Thursday at Methodist Hospital, according to his mother, who said the blows left bruises and red swelling on his buttocks.

The six students, all 9-year-old boys, are in the same class. They received the corporal punishment Wednesday because Phifer believed they were part of a gang, according to the mother of one of the boys.

The teachers have been suspended pending an investigation by Marion County Child Protection Services.

School 48 Principal Deloris Sangster said the incident was reported to Child Protection Services, Indianapolis police and school personnel officials. She said school district policy was followed, but the teachers were suspended until child protection workers can finish their investigation.

IPS policy states parents do not have to give permission for corporal punishment to be used, but they should be notified.

Sangster declined to comment further because, she said, "I don't know where this is going." Coleman and Phifer could not be reached for comment.

IPS spokeswoman Mary Louise Scheid said Superintendent Duncan Pat Pritchett has told teachers he prefers they not use corporal punishment, even though Indiana is one of 23 states that allow it.

Even with state approval, the vast majority of IPS schools do not allow corporal punishment, Scheid said. School 48 does.

Scheid described Phifer and Coleman as "good teachers with no blemishes on their records." Phifer was hired in 1998, and Coleman started in December 2002. "In this case we think the teacher was trying in her best way to share a lesson that being in a gang was not appropriate," Scheid said.

Statewide, school policies on corporal punishment vary, said Nelson Miller of the Indiana School Boards Association. But when a school allows it, discretion must be used, he said.

"It's bad judgment to do more than one or two swats, but I'm not sure any corporal punishment is good at all," Nelson said.

Scheid said all of the parents except one were notified before the paddlings.

The policy allows a paddle to be used, and it may be wood, provided it is flat and no larger than a half-inch thick, 4 inches wide and 18 inches long.

Cindy Collier, an administrator with the state's Family and Social Services Administration, said she could neither confirm nor deny that Child Protection Services is investigating the incident because of state confidentiality laws.

In general, whenever there is a possible child abuse report, the agency is required to investigate.

Collier said teachers are held to the same standard as anyone else investigated for child abuse.

"We would look at the child and see if serious physical abuse had occurred, and if so, that's when we'd get law enforcement involved."

Scheid said at least one parent witnessed the punishment.

Nicole Hall, mother of the boy treated at Methodist, said she learned about the discipline after it had been administered.

She said she was told the boys were told to hold on to a table and look out a window while Coleman struck each boy at least three times with the paddle.

Her son received a fourth blow because he had caused Phifer "anguish," she was told by her son and the school principal.

Hall said she learned Tuesday that her son had been suspended from school for three days last week for fighting.

Hall said school officials sent home a note informing her that he had been suspended, but her son never gave her the note, she said.

When he returned to school Wednesday, he and the other boys were punished.

Follow-up: 20 March 2004 - IPS may reconsider paddling policy

Corpun file 12943

Patriot-News, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 19 March 2004

State panel seeks ban on student spankings

By Jan Murphy
Of The Patriot-News

A ban on paddling in public schools could be in place by the end of year, making Pennsylvania the 29th state to outlaw the form of discipline.

The State Board of Education gave its final approval to rules yesterday that, among other things, prohibit corporal punishment but allow reasonable force to be used in some situations. Those situations include ones involving a disturbance, a weapon or when a student poses a threat to a teacher or others.

Most districts are believed to have put an end to spanking years ago, but board officials say it may still be practiced in some schools because there is no law or rule barring it. Midstate school districts contacted said they have not allowed corporal punishment in years.

Board member Edith Isacke, who led the committee studying the proposed ban, said, "Most corporal punishment that is happening is occurring in the elementary grades, and we don't want children to be afraid to come to school."

Another board member, Larry Wittig, asked if the ban would apply to alternative schools that deal with aggressive students and possibly "crimp their style."

State Board Executive Director Jim Buckheit said the only public schools exempted would be ones that use a private provider to provide educational services, such as running an alternative school.

During the hearings, the ban drew only limited opposition from a guidance counselor and a handful of conservative Republican lawmakers, Isacke said.

Rep. Samuel Rohrer, R-Berks, was among the lawmakers who didn't support the corporal punishment ban.

"There's body of evidence to say it is an appropriate thing to do for some behavioral actions," he said. "Maybe not always the first thing to do, but it's been an appropriate long-standing method for some time and they ought to let that up to the local school board and teacher to decide when it's appropriate."

The overwhelming majority of people who offered input supported the ban, Isacke said. The ban gained the support of all 12 State Board members attending yesterday's meeting.

After the meeting, James Fogarty, executive director of the Schuylkill Intermediate Unit, voiced surprise at Wittig's suggestion that corporal punishment should be allowed in alternative schools.

He said his unit has two alternative schools and neither uses or intends to use corporal punishment.

Before the corporal punishment ban can take effect, it requires the stamp of approval of the House and Senate education committees, the Independent Regulatory Review Commission and the attorney general's office and must be published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.

Copyright 2004 The Patriot-News. Used with permission.

Follow-up: 9 March 2005 - State ban on paddling unruly students not yet approved

Corpun file 12946

Indianapolis Star, 20 March 2004

IPS may reconsider paddling policy

2 School 48 teachers on suspension over spanking of 6 boys get support from parents

By Kim L. Hooper

The investigation of two teachers by child-protection workers for their roles in the spanking of six boys at Indianapolis Public School 48 this week likely will lead officials to re-evaluate the use of corporal punishment in the district.

"As a result of this incident, I believe the board will revisit the policy and could possibly change it," said IPS Superintendent Duncan Pat Pritchett.

But not everyone supports a ban on student paddling. Teachers need the option to discipline children who fail to follow school rules for conduct and behavior, supporters say.

"There are parents like myself who don't believe that spanking, when done properly, is abuse," said School Board member Michael D. Brown, whose two children attend IPS schools. He said his 8-year-old son has been paddled by school officials.

Children's advocates contend that discipline using physical violence sends the wrong message to children.

Indianapolis Public Schools officials confirmed that the Child Protection Services division of the Marion County Office of Family and Children is investigating third-grade teacher Rachelle B. Phifer and fifth-grade teacher Ulysses Coleman Jr. in the paddling incident.

Both are teachers at School 48 at 34th Street and Central Avenue. Phifer had Coleman administer the paddling of six students, all 9-year-old boys in the same class. Several were involved in fights last week, disruptive behavior believed linked to gangs.

One boy was treated Thursday at Methodist Hospital, according to his mother, who said the blows left bruises and red swelling on his buttocks. The teachers have been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation by child-welfare workers.

When contacted Friday at home, Coleman declined to comment. Phifer could not be reached.

Pritchett has told teachers he prefers they not use corporal punishment, even though Indiana is one of 22 states that allow it. IPS' policy allows a wooden paddle to be used in spankings -- provided it is flat and no larger than a half-inch think, 4 inches wide and 18 inches long -- or the open palm of the hand.

The policy allows the punishment in elementary schools, not middle and high schools. Still, most elementaries don't allow it, School 48 does.

The school's two suspended teachers have received support from parents in phone calls to the school and in comments on a feedback forum sponsored by www.IndyStar.com.

Charles "Tony" Knight runs a pee-wee basketball league for IPS elementary schools and said Coleman volunteers Saturdays to coach the fifth-grade boys and girls teams for School 48. Knight called Coleman a positive influence for children and the community.

"I can't imagine him intentionally harming students," Knight said. "He's one of those proactive African-American males who tries to make a difference in the lives of young people."

Follow-up: 28 March 2004 - Paddling remains divisive issue

Corpun file 13817

Tuscaloosa News, Alabama, 24 March 2004

Disagree with story about coach

Dear Editor: In reading The Tuscaloosa News on March 11, I noticed on the front-page upper fold a story titled "Suit filed against coach for paddling."

The story leads one to assume that the county board has a wild man running amuck on school property.

While articles like this one leads people to believe the person cited in the article is wrong, the facts that are always left out would explain much more to the public. Facts like how many lawsuits people like this have filed over the past 10 to 15 years to support their lifestyle, how many were dismissed and how many were settled by large corporations.

I have heard of people who file lawsuits in an attempt to support their lifestyle.

As the media goes about character assassination, the least they could do is investigate all parties before writing the article.

In this instance, the teacher has done more good on his worse day than the other party has done in their whole life.

I have personally been the beneficiary, as have my children, of the discipline of this teacher, and I support him and his methods 100 percent. Had he not acted, he would probably be getting sued for not caring about the child's grades.

Billy Booth
Northport

Copyright © 2002 The Tuscaloosa News

Corpun file 13816

Tuscaloosa News, Alabama, 25 March 2004

Support for Coach Griffin

Dear Editor: I am writing to express my support for a man that I have admired for many years. That man is Coach Mike Griffin.

Coach Griffin has spent his entire career teaching and coaching in the county he was raised in. He spent the majority of that at Riverside Junior High. I never knew a man who was more committed to his job than him.

In the mid-nineties, I coached the Junior High football team at Fayette. When I started to make a schedule, the first person I contacted to play against was Coach Griffin. I knew he would have his team well prepared, they would play hard and they would play clean because a team reflects its coach. I desired our program to be like his -- classy.

It's a shame that someone who has been so good for so many kids for so many years would now be in court defending his actions for paddling a student whose parents think he violated a Board of Education policy. I expect if all the boys that Coach Griffin has put a paddle across their backside were to come to the court house and testify how he was a positive influence in their lives, the line would go from there to Riverside.

I am glad that the administration and Board of Education have supported Coach Griffin's actions. They have known this man for many years, and he is the same now that he has always been -- a class act.

David Hallman
Fayette

Copyright © 2002 The Tuscaloosa News

Follow-up: 13 May 2004 - Doctor calls paddling excessive

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The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City, 23 March 2004

Charge dismissed against Guthrie teacher

By Greg Elwell
The Oklahoman

GUTHRIE -- A Logan County district judge threw out a charge of abuse by caretaker against a Guthrie special education teacher Monday.

Judge William Wheeler said the alleged actions by defendant Lisa Gaye Williams, including spanking a special-needs child with a belt and hitting her with a piece of rubber tubing, would be appropriate actions in response to the actions of the child.

Wheeler said the acts of violence were not gratuitous or an excessive use of force, Logan County District Attorney Rob Hudson said.

Williams, 43, was pleased with the decision and tearful, her attorney Richard O'Carroll said.

"When the matter is fully resolved, she is looking forward to going back to work," he said.

Hudson said the state has not decided whether it will appeal the decision, but if the truth came out, he is happy.

Hudson said he was disappointed in the testimony of a witness who testified Williams had "tapped" the child. In earlier written statements, that witness used the word "hit," he said.

Williams could still face disciplinary action from Guthrie Public Schools officials if they decide she used corporal punishment on the child, Hudson said.

"The schools still have a tough decision to make," Hudson said.

"She's not out of the woods yet."

© The Oklahoma Publishing Co. and its subsidiary, NewsOK.com.

Corpun file 12984

Indianapolis Star, 25 March 2004

IPS incident should show the harm of school paddling

By Ruth Holladay

The paddling administered last week to six third-grade boys at Indianapolis Public School 48 may be the blow felt around the state.

It should be -- hard and stinging and painful enough so that the law permitting an adult to inflict such punishment on a little person in our schools is forever erased from the books.

That's the goal of a group of mental health and child welfare advocates, who in the past have attempted to modify Indiana Code 31-34-1-15 -- with help from Rep. John Day, D-Indianapolis.

"I've sponsored three or four bills to eliminate the practice," Day says. "The climate was not very hospitable."

The law upholds "the right of a parent, guardian or custodian to use reasonable corporal punishment when disciplining a child."

"It is about time to bite the bullet again and try," Andrea Marshall, executive director of Prevent Child Abuse Indiana, said with a sigh. "Of course, it took us about 11 years to get the fatality review team legislation passed. We know in Indiana it is never going to be easy."

The fatality review law mandates an investigation whenever a child's death is suspicious or sudden.

In the past, says Marshall, opposition to reform of the corporal punishment law came from a vague but vocal coalition of religious and right-wing groups. They did not want to lose their parental and (they say) biblical rights to hit their kids, and they did not want the government interfering.

Marshall's organization does not oppose parental spanking.

"There is a difference between what parents choose to do in their homes and what is done in public situations by nonfamily members," she says. "Our organization does not take a position against spanking by parents. We do take a position that advocates for positive discipline, and we can find no proof that spanking has a positive outcome."

Quite the opposite. Overwhelming data shows that paddling is a quick fix and a lazy way to administer punishment. It demeans children and does nothing to correct underlying behavioral problems, says Sarah Lieber-Hale, a social worker with The Villages, an Indiana child-welfare agency.

It's this "overwhelming data" (from the American Academy of Pediatrics and university studies) that has led 27 states to ban corporal punishment in schools, says Lieber-Hale, adding, "I can't believe that in 2004, we are even having this conversation."

Marion County juvenile court Judge James Payne echoes that thought by noting that the law is legal nonsense. "What is reasonable discipline? Is it reasonable to spank on the buttocks with your hand? How about a hairbrush, or paddle, or an extension cord? How about the thighs, or lower buttocks?"

The bottom line, he says, is obvious. "You should never corporally punish somebody else's kid. You just can't do it in this day and age."

That two IPS teachers did so has opened the floodgates not only for debate but decision making as well. While it may take years to change state law, the Indianapolis Public School Board will address this issue, "the sooner the better," says board President Marianna Zaphiriou. She expects it to come up at their April or May meeting.

"One of our biggest challenges is to provide a safe and healthy learning environment," she says. "Does corporal punishment have any place in that environment?"

However, the board also must adopt a community standard, she adds.

Now, here is the really disturbing part. So far, she has heard only from people who want the schools to keep corporal punishment.

Isn't it time for the rest of us to speak out?

Ruth Holladay's column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.

Follow-up: 25 May 2004 - IPS Board set to prohibit paddling

Corpun file 12982

Meridian Star, Mississippi, 25 March 2004

Local News

Carver's former assistant principal condemns paddling

FORMER ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL — Ralph McLaney, former Carver Middle School assistant principal, looks over memos and letters regarding his decision not to paddle students. McLaney worked for the Meridian Public School District from July until September 2003. He lives in Brandon with his wife and three daughters, and is currently looking for a job. Photo by Georgia E. Frye/The Meridian Star

By Georgia E. Frye
staff writer


BRANDON — Former Carver Middle School Assistant Principal Ralph McLaney said he believes school administrators use paddling to discipline students because it's quick and convenient.

McLaney, a Brandon resident, resigned from his job at Carver in September 2003 after he said he was ordered by Carver Principal Earnest Ward to paddle students.

"It doesn't improve student behavior or achievement in the long run," McLaney said Tuesday. "It is just the quickest way to deal with the discipline problems.

"I was concerned about the use of physical force on children," he said. "I was getting anywhere from 19 to 37 discipline referrals a day."

McLaney talked about his views on corporal punishment in an interview at his Brandon home; McLaney's story first gained attention after an interview with The Washington Post.

McLaney, who is currently unemployed, said he refused to paddle students at Carver because he thought "a change in the culture of the school might improve student achievement."

Paddle when necessary

Autry backs paddling

© 2003 The Meridian Star  All Rights Reserved.

Corpun file 13024

Citizen-Times, Asheville, North Carolina, 27 March 2004

Clay case awakens school spanking concerns of parents

By Lynde Hedgpeth

HAYESVILLE - When Tami Smith's 10-year-old son got in trouble at school in February, she told the principal it was OK to spank him.

But when she later found bruises on her son's leg, she decided principal Mickey Noe had gone too far.

"I believe in corporal punishment," Smith said. "I have no problem with a child being corrected, but when there's bruising or marks left, then, yes, it was excessive."

Now Noe faces a rare misdemeanor child abuse charge in Clay County court, brought by the boy's father, Joel Smith. Researchers at the University of North Carolina could find only one instance of a similar charge against a principal, a charge that was dismissed.

The use of paddling as punishment in schools has dropped to less than one-third of what it was in 1980, according to the National Coalition to Abolish Corporal Punishment in Schools. At least 28 states have banned corporal punishment, but the practice has remained legal in Southeastern states such as North Carolina, where broad state laws give school boards and principals the freedom to set their own policies.

Officials in districts with no-spanking policies such as Asheville City and Buncombe County schools consider corporal punishment outdated and ineffective.

"It was just part of the old school, and the new breed of educators coming along knew that that was not the solution to any type of a problem," said Dorland Winkler, a former principal who has worked for Asheville City Schools for more than 30 years. He could not remember the last time he saw corporal punishment used.

A thing of the past

Some Asheville parents were surprised to find out corporal punishment is still practiced in the state.

"I would be so disappointed if I thought that was what my school had to resort to for punishment," said Liz Love-Brotak, whose 9-year-old daughter attends Jones Elementary in Asheville.

But many educators in Western North Carolina, including Noe, see corporal punishment as effective when used as a last resort and with parental cooperation. It can also act as a bad-behavior deterrent for elementary-age children.

Noe said he followed state laws about corporal punishment when spanking Smith's son, even going farther than required by giving Smith a choice between paddling and losing a week of recess. She told him to do both.

"I've never seen this before on these kind of facts," said Zeyland McKinney, Noe's lawyer in Robbinsville. North Carolina judges have ruled that educators cannot be found civilly liable for corporal punishment-related injuries unless they could have reasonably foreseen that the punishment might cause permanent injury.

North Carolina educators also have immunity from criminal conviction unless the corporal punishment caused or was likely to cause permanent injury, or the punishment was given out of malice.

Both principals who use and don't use corporal punishment agreed that parental involvement makes all punishment more effective.

Ask permission first

Some districts, such as Haywood County Schools, require parental consent for corporal punishment.

Though Canton Middle School principal Regina Lambert does not use or allow paddling at her school, she always asks parents to help design punishments for students who deserve something harsher than after-school detention. Lambert said though she prefers not to use corporal punishment at all, she has allowed a few parents to come to school to paddle their own children.

Haywood County parent Robin Black has children at Canton Middle School and Meadowbrook Elementary. She said parents need to know the administrators and the corporal punishment policy at their children's schools.

Black said she had considered her children's dispositions toward spankings when deciding whether to sign corporal punishment permission slips for them. She allowed it for her 10-year-old son, but not for her 14-year-old daughter, because her daughter responds to different types of punishments, she said.

Black said her relationship with the administration at her son's school was essential to her decision.

"I trust the administration at the elementary. I've had two kids go through there," Black said. "You have to know the people at the school. You have to be involved."

Jones Elementary parent Wanda Lester said she would rather administer corporal punishment at home - something she rarely does - than allow another person to spank her son.

"I don't know how much anger is in that person," she said. Some state groups still lobby for an end to school spankings. At its 2003 state convention, the North Carolina Parents and Teachers Association passed a resolution calling for an end to corporal punishment statewide, citing other national groups that oppose corporal punishment such as the North Carolina Middle School Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Association of State Boards of Education and the National Association of School Nurses.

In Clay County, it remains unclear whether the charge against principal Noe will bring about change. Superintendent Scott Penland said he is waiting for the results of the case in court before re-examining the district's policy. The case will go to court April 7.

What the law says

State law allows North Carolina school districts to set their own corporal punishment policies. If a district allows it, it must follow these requirements:

-- Corporal punishment may not be given in a classroom or in front of other children.

-- Students must be told ahead of time what behaviors can warrant corporal punishment.

--Only a teacher, substitute teacher, principal, or assistant principal may give paddlings in the presence of another administrator or teacher.

--The school must notify parents when their children receive corporal punishment.

In WNC

Here's a glance at some area school district's corporal punishment policies.

--Asheville City Schools: not allowed

--Buncombe County Schools: not allowed

--Haywood County Schools: allowed, must be administered by certified personnel and only with parent's permission.

-- Jackson County Schools: not allowed

-- Henderson County Schools: allowed only with parent's permission, in grades 6-12, must be given by someone the same gender as the student

-- McDowell County Schools: allowed, follows state law

-- Madison County Schools: allowed, follows state law

© Asheville Citizen-Times, 14 O. Henry Ave., Asheville, NC 28801

Corpun file 13039

Indianapolis Star, 28 March 2004

Paddling remains divisive issue

Recent incident at School 48 renews debate over corporal punishment as a disciplinary tool

By Kim L. Hooper
March 28, 2004 

The wooden paddle under the desk of School 14 Principal Liz Odle gets little use. Odle doesn't advocate student spankings and advises her teachers to use other ways to correct bad behavior.

But in 1999-2000, more than 2,200 Indiana students felt the sting of paddling under a corporal punishment policy that gives educators the same disciplinary rights as parents.

Proponents say the practice, allowed in 22 states, gives schools a key tool to show children there are consequences for disruptive behavior.

"If you don't want your child paddled, then every time he or she acts up in school, come get them and take them home," said IPS School Board member Michael D. Brown, who supports spanking as an option for teachers.

But the practice can lead to problems, and there's growing national sentiment to outlaw it.

Detractors say there are more effective ways to discipline students and call paddling a negative response to negative behavior. They say corporal punishment can lead to allegations of abuse, as happened after two teachers at Indianapolis Public School 48 were involved in the paddling of six third-grade boys on March 16.

One boy was treated for bruises and swelling at a local hospital, and the teachers have been suspended pending an investigation by child protection workers.

"If we use violence to counter violence, then the message is lost," said Ted Feinberg, assistant executive director of the National Association of School Psychologists in Bethesda, Md. "It just doesn't work, and it doesn't help the kids who are prone to inappropriate behavior."

Experts say it's critical for schools and parents to set the model for nonviolent behavior. They contend other forms of discipline -- such as loss of privileges, suspensions and detention -- are more effective.

Nadine Block, executive director of the Center for Effective Discipline in Columbus, Ohio, said research shows that children who are repeatedly physically disciplined tend to perform worse academically.

"Kids do not learn in an environment of fear. You have kids paddled for talking in the hallway," said Block, a former teacher and school psychologist. "There is no school of education that teaches how to paddle kids."

Block's organization sponsors a program called End Physical Punishment of Children, which has sponsored SpankOut Day USA each April 30 since 1998 to promote nonviolent ways to teach children appropriate behavior.

The message has been catching on.

Paddling is on decline

More than 340,000 children nationwide were paddled during the 1999-2000 school year (the most recent year for which data are available), down from 1.4 million in 1980, according to the center.

Four years ago, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that states abolish corporal punishment in schools. So far, 28 states have adopted the policy.

Pennsylvania could become the 29th. State education officials there approved a ban on paddling March 19, a proposal now awaiting agreement from state lawmakers.

Indiana is unlikely to follow suit.

The practice of paddling has been on the state's books for at least 30 years. A 1995 revision authorized teachers and school staffers to "take any action that is reasonably necessary" to prevent interference with educational missions.

Another law gives parents and guardians the right to use "reasonable" physical force to discipline a child.

Efforts to ban corporal punishment have been introduced but never passed the General Assembly.

Rep. John Day, D-Indianapolis, said changes are needed.

"Teaching is the only profession where you're allowed to spank a child," he observed.

Day has attempted to outlaw corporal punishment four or five times but has found little support. The last time he proposed a ban was about a decade ago; the measure failed to pass out of committee.

"I don't disagree that we need to exercise discipline; it's how we do it," Day said.

Most schools that use corporal punishment say it's a last resort -- and is done with parents' permission.

Parental permission

At School 14, teachers are encouraged to use other discipline practices, such as setting up conferences with students and teachers to discuss behavior one-on-one.

"We ask them, 'How do you want us to handle this?'" Odle said.

Larry Moore, superintendent of Northwestern Shelby Schools, said his 1,539-student district uses corporal punishment sparingly, and parents are notified in advance and given the chance to object.

Of the five to 10 students paddled in the district during the past three years, most received the punishment at the request of parents, he said.

"We have more questions here from our families as to why we don't do more of it," he said.

That sentiment was evident after the paddlings at School 48. IPS officials said the school received a half-dozen calls in support of the teachers. Letters to The Indianapolis Star after the incident were overwhelmingly in favor of corporal punishment.

Christopher Mracna, a parent with two children attending Perry Township Schools, said his children have never been paddled. But he said he wouldn't object if school officials think it's necessary.

"School officials have my expressed permission to enforce the rules with corporal punishment," Mracna said.

No longer appropriate

Despite such support, some districts say it's more important to spare the rod.

Lawrence Township Schools in Marion County has a human dignity policy that dictates any discipline be dished out in a respectful manner. Paddling, officials said, is not an appropriate part of that formula for the district's 16,207 students.

Shelbyville Central Schools has banned corporal punishment for more than a decade, said Superintendent Jim Peck.

Carmel-Clay Schools might soon follow suit. Corporal punishment is among 30 policies scheduled for revision or elimination in the coming months, said Steve Dillon, director of student services.

"It's been 14 years since I know of anybody using it," Dillon said. "We don't do it, and we don't want to do it."

Corpun file 13073

News Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Indiana, 30 March 2004

Use of corporal punishment stirs debate in state

Case in Indianapolis puts spotlight on issue again; Allen County, Catholic schools only allow it in self-defense

From The Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana is among 22 states that allow public school officials to spank students, an increasingly uncommon disciplinary practice drawing growing criticism nationwide.

But, here in Allen County, all four public school districts and the Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend have policies against the use of corporal punishment, officials said. Each policy is worded a little differently, but all come to the conclusion the use of unreasonable force - unless in self-defense - is unacceptable.

Legislative efforts to ban the practice in Indiana have come and gone over the years, but have never passed the General Assembly.

The debate gained momentum in Indianapolis after school officials this month suspended two teachers who administrators said were involved in paddling six 9-year-old boys, including one who was treated at a hospital for bruises and swelling.

...........

Staff writer Charlie Roduta contributed to this report.

Punishment policies

All four Allen County public school districts and the 45 schools in the Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend have board policies against the use of corporal punishment as a form of discipline.

Fort Wayne Community Schools

© 2004 News Sentinel and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.