corporal punishment is alive and well

I was shocked and horrified at the staggering numbers of corporate punishment cases in what I assume to be typical school discricts.

Another thing that bothered me was the mention of corporal punishment having been officially prohibited for (only) 20+ years. That would put it at what I thought were very civilized 80s.

'Safe environment', my foot.


Corporal Punishment Disputes Up in N.Y.

By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press Writer
Sun Sep 25, 7:30 AM ET

ALBANY, N.Y. - Formal complaints of corporal punishment in New York classrooms more than doubled over the past five years, with 4,223 accusations reported in 2004, according to records obtained by The Associated Press.

At the same time, fewer school districts were filing the required semiannual reports detailing corporal punishment allegations, the records show.

Many of the allegations involved faculty or staff pushing, slapping and grabbing students' arms. Among those verified were an incident in which a teacher put a misbehaving student outside to cool off in December without a jacket, a teacher who tackled a student who reached for a pencil on the floor, and several cases of students' mouths taped shut.

[..]



David Ernst of the state Schools Boards Association said the lack of uniform reporting makes it impossible to draw conclusions about trends in corporal punishment.

Fewer school districts may be filing the required semiannual reports because of superintendent turnover or because they include their corporal punishment incidents in mandated reports on child abuse instead, he said.

Ernst said officials believe corporal punishment in schools is actually becoming less common. [yeah, right!]

New York's schools, with about 3 million students, have had to report incidents of corporal punishment since 1985. Corporal punishment has been prohibited there for over two decades.

Deputy Education Commissioner James Kadamus said he believes the most serious cases — those that could be considered child abuse under state law — are being reported.

"We are trying to emphasize a safe learning environment and that goes for both the kids' behavior and the adult behavior," he said.