Georgia Charter School Reinstates Paddling as Form of Punishment
A charter school in Hephzibah, Georgia has initiated a new policy to allow paddling as a form of punishment – and as expected, critics and parents are not fond of the decision.
According to a report from WRDW/WAGT, The Georgia School of Innovation and the Classics (GSIC), sent home a consent form to parents informing them of the new policy and requesting permission to use corporal punishment on their children if they misbehave in the classroom. As reported, the superintendent of the school states they’ve received a little over a hundred forms back, with a third giving consent to paddling.
“In this school, we take discipline very seriously,” Superintendent Boulineau said.
“There was a time where corporal punishment was kind of the norm in school and you didn’t have the problems that you have,” he told WRDW/WAGT.
GSIC, which goes from kindergarten to ninth grade, promises that the paddling will not be the first choice for discipline. According to the form, the school will use the “three strike” policy so the paddling will not happen on the first and second offense. Furthermore, if a parent decides to opt out of paddling, they have to agree to up to five days suspension. The paddle is said to be “24 inches in length, six inches in width and 3/4 inches in thickness.”
The form stipulates, “a student will be taken into an office behind closed doors. The student will place their hands on their knees or piece of furniture and will be struck on the buttocks with a paddle.”
Georgia is one of the 20 states in the U.S. where paddling is legal – though it is a policy that is not popular for discipline.
What does paddling really teach a child? If you can’t reason with them, then use physical force instead. The same argument is often used against spanking and belting kids. Let them make their own mistakes and learn them from. They’re people too.
— Michael “RoboIntegrity” Barry (@RoboIntegrity) September 10, 2018
It’s not the school’s responsibility to physically discipline my child. If she needs a spanking, that is MY responsibility & it sure as hell isn’t going to be with a paddle.
— EliB (@EliNic13) September 11, 2018
Photo Credit: Getty Images
