It may be hard to believe now, but way back in the day schools had the authority to physically discipline children—and now a Missouri school district has officially announced plans to bring the controversial form of punishment back. It was recently confirmed that a local school district in Missouri is returning to its past use of corporal punishment, meaning that students will now be subjected to paddling as a means of disciplinary action.
@TheHill reports, the Cassville School District in South Missouri has sent shockwaves throughout the city and to parents, due to a highly controversial announcement regarding forms of discipline. The Cassville district just confirmed its plans to reinstate its decades-past implementation of corporal punishment for students. Underneath the new policy, school district employees will be allowed to punish students by paddling them—which is described as a “last resort” if other forms of discipline fail to work effectively. Parents will have the option to opt-in to the new policy or decide against it.
If you’re wondering why the Cassville district decided to bring back corporal punishment, well parents were surveyed and stated that increased school discipline was their biggest concern. However, as expected, there have already been multiple complaints regarding the new practice. School Superintendent Meryl Johnson spoke about the concern of parents, “The complaints that we have heard from some of our parents is that they don’t want their students suspended. They want another option. And so, this was just another option that we could use before we get to that point of suspension.”
Superintendent Johnson continued, adding “Corporal punishment will be used only when other means of discipline have failed and then only in reasonable form, when the principal approves it.”
It was further noted that administrators state that they don’t believe that corporal punishment will be used often, but when it is used, it will be by administrators only and in the presence of another school district employee.
