Corporal Punishment story on NPR

Interesting to see where most of the states are that allow school cp, in the South, the old Confederacy, along with a couple western states known for conservative political domination. The only former Confederate state that bans it is Virginia, which is also the only one that was not carried by Donald Trump.
A part of the country known for race prejudice, homophobia, oldtime fundamentalist religion, and a bizarre attitude toward women, that they are both to be honored and subjugated.
Maybe no surprise they still think its ok for schools to hit kids-its tradition. And note that this story is set in North Carolina a state very much in the news for its "bathroom bill" that has sparked outrage.
Now I am not a Yankee; I grew up there. I think I have noted that while cp was used in the schools I attended, it was not used past the elementary level. No paddling in high school.
In the high school I attended the punishment was usually lunchtime detention for a certain number of days or weeks. People in detention were allowed 10 minutes at the end of lunch period to get something to eat.No time to hang out or socialize with friends. And some teachers would use writing lines, often very long ones.
The whole concept of in school suspension is absurd, not allowing students to keep up with their schoolwork defeats the whole purpose of education. And don't even get me started about the zero tolerance idea!

Holy hot mama, where do I apply??!

I just want to point out that when I lived in the States for 6 years (3 of them in a southern state), I met tons of people who were against school corporal punishment. Some of them were against it very actively, and had raised hell in local schools about it. It's not all or nothing, obviously.

Adding on to my earlier totally scientific observation that y'all are such a weird place, the U.S. is the most extreme case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, I found, when it comes to individual vs. group behaviour. (I mean, this applies to any country, of course, but you guys have special talents.) The majority of Americans I knew and still know are completely normal reasonable people - in person. But get, oh, say, more than 50 of you in a group and suddenly you stop thinking with your brains entirely and start thinking only with your hearts and genitals. Both of those organs are delightful in themselves, obviously, but perhaps not for thinking.

OK, let the national Hunger Games begin.

So education establishment (purpose education) says you will be banned from education for a day or whatever or accept being paddled.

Sounds like a odd set up to me.

Yep and of course Canada did such a stellar job with the Indian Residential Schools. We should hope to emulate our neighbors to the North.

To quote my favorite cynic, H.L. Mencken:

"Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public."

Of course, it's also interesting that he died in 1956, but like Nostradamus his predictions are coming true:

"On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."

What is the point in giving the students a choice?
Do they really think they will pick the worst (and by definition arguably the most effective) option?

If Principal Matheson is indeed a closet kinkster then he doesn't have to try hard to fulfil his needs...both the young lady and her Father chose the paddling. My God, it was handed to him on a plate.

As someone who lives in this state, I can tell you it is deep in the roots. When I was in high school only a couple years ago, my school practiced it as well. Naturally, they did ban it the next year though. Zero tolerance is fairly opened ended. At least it was when I was in school.

Residential schools is one of the most shameful things that any country has done to a group of people; they destroyed three generations at once, and we are only beginning to admit responsibility for it now.
Nobody should emulate that, ever; it was horrifying. I have no jokes to make about it (though some of my Aboriginal students do, but those jokes are totally unprintable...)


I couldn't believe this was actually a real quote, but according to Snopes it is. BRB, gonna check out more Mencken quotes

Edit: Holy crap, Mencken quotes are like M&M's - I can't eat just one.

Burgundy
Edit: Holy crap, Mencken quotes are like M&M's - I can't eat just one.

Yes, he was really a sarcastic curmudgeon in his day. He pretty much skewered everybody, but is probably best remembered for "Those who can -- do. Those who can't -- teach."

That's me! I can't do anything!!!