Corpun file 19127

Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register, Wheeling, W. Virginia, 3 May 2007

Parents Give Teachers License to Paddle

By Linda L. Hull

MARTINS FERRY — The Martins Ferry public school system is the only one in Ohio that still gives parents an option when their children need to be disciplined.

The students in middle school can either go to Saturday School or they can be spanked, said Nick Stankovich, superintendent of the Martins Ferry School District.

Many parents refuse to paddle their children, and a lot of people believe it has been taken out of the equation in the school systems, but that isn't true in all schools.

Martins Ferry still has a "paddling policy" that is not used very often but it still is on the books as a form of discipline.

With this policy still in place, Martins Ferry has the distinction of being the only school in Belmont County that still uses that option as a form of discipline.

"Many parents can't or don't want their children going to Saturday School because of a discipline problem they may be having. Instead the parents can sign a paper and agree to have the child paddled instead of making them go to school on Saturday. It is entirely up to the parents, and it is effective in most cases," Stankovich said.

Stankovich also stressed the fact that it was a paddling, not a "beating," and it is always with the parents' signed permission and being witnesses to the spanking.

Like Martins Ferry, 16 other school districts in Ohio use spanking as a form of punishment to keep order in their school systems.

A group called the Center for Effective Discipline, a non-profit organization, would like to eliminate paddling, however. This past Monday was the official international "SpankOut Day" observed by the Center and similar groups across the country and around the world.

"It's time that the state Legislature put an end to this barbaric treatment of students," said Nadine Block, director of the Center for Effective Discipline.

She said paddlings sometimes lead to student injuries and lawsuits, and its use is not supported in research.

"If educators in 29 states and almost 600 other public school districts in Ohio can manage students without striking them with boards, why can't these 17 districts do that?" said Dr. Robert Fathman, Center for Effective Discipline president.

During the 2004-05 school year, Martins Ferry paddled eight times, with eight different students receiving the punishment. While in the 2005-06 school year, they paddled 13 times, with nine students being paddled.

The highest number of paddlings was reported in Pike County, coming in at 92 for the 2004-05 school year and again in 2005-06, the highest number was Pike County at 99.

In Stark County Schools, the Canton City School District increased from 40 students paddled to 50 the next year.

Among the schools that still use the policy, in 2004-05 Williams County, Eadon-Northwest Local School District as well as Brown County, Fayetteville-Perry Local School District had the lowest number of students paddled, but in 2005-06, Coshocton County, Coshocton City School District and Wayne County, North Central local School District had the distinction of being the lowest with only one paddling reported.

In Adams County/Ohio Valley 19 students were paddled 21 times; Ashland County, Hillsdale Local School District, paddled five students eight times.

In Brown County, Fayetteville-Perry Local School District, one student was reported paddled with 17 paddlings on record; Guernsey County, East Guernsey had two paddlings; Tuscarawas County, Indian Valley Local School District, showed 14 students and 14 paddlings; Stark County, Canton City School District, reported 40 students paddled.

Corpun file 19133

wave3.com (WAVE-TV), Louisville, Kentucky, 5 May 2007

Principal investigated for disciplining student with paddling

(ALGOOD, Tenn.) -- An elementary school principal has been temporarily assigned to administrative duties after a paddling she gave to a student allegedly left bruises.

The Department of Children's Services launched an investigation into the disciplinary action at the K-8 Algood School after the boy's parents reported the spanking to authorities.

Algood School Principal Leann Taylor told the Herald-Citizen that she is on administrative duty pending the outcome of the investigation into the incident, which happened last week.

Putnam County school officials declined to discuss the case and said they can't publicly talk about individual personnel matters.

Taylor said she is confident she followed required procedures in the disciplinary matter and that when the investigation is complete she will be returned to her post.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Follow-up: 1 June 2006 - Algood principal reinstated

Corpun file 19150

wmctv.com (WMC-TV), Memphis, Tennessee, 17 May 2007

Wooddale Middle teacher criticizes MCS's Blue Ribbon Plan

By Janice Broach

There is new criticism of Memphis City Schools Blue Ribbon Disciplinary program. The plan replaced corporal punishment.

For the first time a teacher is going on the record to say it isn't working.

Action News 5 received phone calls from teachers saying they aren't happy with the Memphis City School system. At first none of the teachers would talk to us but now Linda Hatley says she's had enough.

Hatley thought Tuesday would just be a regular day teaching math at Wooddale Middle School like she has done for the past 17years.

"They did the X-rays which showed it's broken in three places," says Hatley. Hatley is talking about the little finger on her right hand. The injury happened when two girls started fighting at Wooddale in the hall while she was a hall monitor.

"Suddenly one was in front of me and one was behind me," Hatley adds. Hatley says it wasn't a huge fight but somehow she got caught up in it. She's not sure how her finger was broken. She says there are a couple of fights a week at Wooddale, most of them small ones.

"The problem is there is no fear factor. There's no fear of fighting, hitting. I've had problems with throwing this year. I've done everything I know to do. I've had them write essays," says Hatley.

Memphis City School Board Member Kenneth Whalum, Jr., has been critical of the Blue Ribbon plan. Action News 5 Janice Broach talked with Whalum and says if corporal punishment was back in the schools you wouldn't have problems like this.

"Blue Ribbon and some of the things the School Board has tried to do to make things better has not worked," says Whalum.

Linda Hatley believes corporal punishment does work.

Memphis City School administrators say the Blue Ribbon Program is working.

A spokesperson says according to research, fights in schools have dropped thirty percent over this time last year.

E-mails we get from teachers say they are afraid to report problems like fights because they will lose their jobs.

It is clearly a complex problem.

The Blue Ribbon program was created in 2005 to replace corporal punishment. The plan involves training principals and teachers to improve student behavior. It requires an updated report during the school year to monitor the program's effectiveness.

All content © Copyright 2000 - 2007 WorldNow and WMCTV, a Raycom Media station. All Rights Reserved.

Follow-up: 5 June 2007 - MCS Board member wants to resolve Blue Ribbon controversy

Corpun file 19171

Greenville Advocate, Alabama, 18 May 2007

Paddling policy revised

By Kevin Pearcey

Faced with growing discipline problems in the school system, the Board of Education has voted unanimously to implement a corporal punishment policy allowing teachers to paddle students.

Gloria Warren, a 29-year teacher at W.O. Parmer Elementary, addressed the board prior to Thursday night's vote and told board members she was "saddened" by the lack of respect exhibited by students in the classroom.

"I'm asking the school board to help us get back the respect we deserve," Warren said. "Students are being a danger to my fellow coworkers."

Currently, only school administrators may paddle students, but parents must sign consent forms prior to the school year allowing for such.

Parents attending Thursday's board meeting voiced their approval for the policy revision.

One parent, Retha Hilliard, said students laughed "behind administrators backs" and took advantage of the teachers.

"Children need to know there are consequences to their actions," she said.

Another parent, Lynn Henderson, agreed.

"They (the children) need discipline badly," said Looney.

Superintendent Mike Looney said the new corporal punishment policy provides teachers with the "authority necessary to maintain a safe, disciplined, and orderly learning environment."

"I understand some will have reservation, and there will be others who vehemently oppose paddling in schools," he said. "Our position is simple: We expect - no, we demand - our students behave and in those cases where they don't we will respond accordingly."

Butler County School System Corporal Punishment policy for school year 2007-08.

The Board shall allow reasonable corporal punishment only after other means of discipline have failed to produce desirable results. If corporal punishment is required, it shall be administered only by a certified employee in the presence of a school administrator who has been informed beforehand of the reasons for the punishment. At no time shall corporal punishment be administered in the presence of another student. Parents who object to corporal punishment as a method of discipline shall advise the school administrator. In those schools without assistant principals, the principal shall appoint a designee(s) who may administer/witness such punishment in his/her absence.

In administering corporal punishment, the following guidelines shall be adhered to:

1. The employee will use a Board issued paddle.

2. The certified employee administering the corporal punishment must attempt to make telephone contact with the child's parent/guardian in advance of administering the corporal punishment.

3. The employee will provide the following in advance of administering corporal punishment:

a. Notice of charges

b. An opportunity for the student to explain guilt/innocence

c. Notice of the number of licks to be administered (at no time more than three (3)

4. All corporal punishment will occur in the presence of an administrator or designee who has been advised of the reason for corporal punishment being administered.

5. All corporal punishment events will be recorded into STI.

6. School employees who have administered corporal punishment shall provide the child's parents or legal guardians a written explanation of the reason(s) for the punishment and the name of the school administrator who was present as a witness.

Corpun file 19192

Fayetteville Observer, N. Carolina, 24 May 2007

House denies spanking measure

By John Fuquay
Staff writer

RALEIGH -- A bill to ban corporal punishment in North Carolina public schools failed late Wednesday, after a debate in which two lawmakers said they benefited from spankings they received in their formative years.

Rep. Ronnie Sutton, a Robeson County Democrat, said he averaged two spankings a week from first through eighth grades.

"I know I was a tough problem to handle in school as it was," he said. "I had one teacher that I told him later I think he whipped me like a rented mule. But I truly believe I would have served time in prison had I not had the discipline that I had in school."

Rep. John Blust, a Guilford County Republican, said he appreciated teachers who steered him to the right path when he went astray.

"I'm not going to say I'm a victim of corporal punishment. I would say very clearly that I am a beneficiary of corporal punishment," he said.

The bill passed in two House committees before being recommended for approval Wednesday. The House vote -- 66 opposed and 50 in favor -- did not follow party lines. The bill cannot be considered again this session.

A companion bill in the Senate failed to win committee support and won't be heard this session.

Rep. Rick Glazier, a Fayetteville Democrat, was one of the bill's co-sponsors. Glazier said every industrialized nation except the United States and Canada has banned corporal punishment in schools.

Its use is banned in 29 states and the District of Columbia. In North Carolina, it is banned in prisons, jails, detention centers, day cares, group homes, foster homes and other institutions.

"Schools are the only institutions in some places in this country where striking another person is sanctioned," Glazier said.

Rep. Laura Wiley, a Republican from Guilford County, said she taught children with such severe behavioral problems that they attended a separate school. She said they threw chairs and swore, yet she never saw the need to spank them.

"As a matter of logic," she said, "we've had corporal punishment at our disposal for a number of years, and I keep hearing how kids are getting worse and worse. So, just deduction, it's not working."

Opponents argued that the use of corporal punishment should be decided by local school districts, and that it serves as an option to suspensions.

Some school administrators have said students would miss more class time without corporal punishment because paddling would be replaced with out-of-school suspensions.

Each of North Carolina's 115 school districts has had the authority to use corporal punishment for more than 50 years, although 47 districts, including Cumberland County, have policies against it.

Of the remaining 68 districts where spanking is allowed, not all of them use corporal punishment. According to the state, 24 school districts used it during the 2005-06 school year, led by Burke County, where it was used 508 times. Robeson County was second, where it was used 297 times that year.

A Robeson County case was investigated by the District Attorney's Office two years ago after a seventh-grade boy received severe bruising from a paddling by a Rowland Middle School teacher. The district attorney declined to file a charge.

Critics in North Carolina say there is no formal protocol for paddling students, it is applied inconsistently and its uses often are undocumented.

Copyright 2007 - The Fayetteville (NC) Observer

Corpun file 19208

Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tennessee, 30 May 2007

Jury hears of abuse by coaches

Ex-player at Hamilton describes paddlings, punches, insults

By Lawrence Buser

A former basketball player at Hamilton High School told a federal court jury Tuesday that coaches Ted Anderson and Eldridge Henry routinely paddled him and other players for missing layups and making other mistakes in practices.

Martin Nolan, 19, said the punishment, referred to as "receiving wood," was administered to players' backsides as they placed their hands on chairs and bent over.

He said Anderson also punched him in the chest with a closed fist and referred to him in insulting street language during a tournament in Los Angeles in December 2003.

That incident, he said, prompted him to transfer to Central High School the next semester, causing him to lose his last year of basketball eligibility.

"He said, 'You're a bitch,' and he advised me not to shoot the ball anymore," said Nolan, a 6-2 guard who now plays for Crichton College and hopes to advance to another collegiate program. "It just basically tore me up emotionally."

His testimony came on the first day of trial in a suit filed by his father, Nathanial Nolan, against the coaches, former Hamilton principal Sonny Hicks and Memphis City Schools.

The Nolans, who are represented by attorney William Winchester, claim the city school system failed to stop the abusive use of corporal punishment.

Defense attorneys argue that the alleged abuse was not serious enough to rise to the level of a constitutional violation.

Anderson, known to players in his highly successful program as "Coach A," was removed from his longtime coaching position in June 2004 by Schools Supt. Carol Johnson and transferred to Ridgeway Middle School, where he teaches history.

The superintendent testified Tuesday that although corporal punishment was legal in the city schools at that time, the policy did not allow its use on students for missing free throws or layups.

The school board banned corporal punishment in November 2004.

Johnson also accepted Hicks' resignation in January 2004 when he failed to report and discipline a coach who fathered a child by a student and then tried to get her to have an abortion.

The Nolans' civil trial before U.S. Dist. Judge Bernice Donald resumes today.

Copyright 2007, commercialappeal.com - Memphis, TN. All Rights Reserved.

Corpun file 19207

Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tennessee, 31 May 2007

Coaches in Hamilton High paddling case deny any wrongdoing

By Lawrence Buser

A federal court jury is expected to begin deliberations today in the civil case of a former Hamilton High School basketball player who says coaches routinely spanked him with a wooden paddle and called him vulgar names for making mistakes on the court.

Martin Nolan, now a 19-year-old player at Crichton College, said he was forced to transfer schools in January 2004 and missed his senior year of eligibility because of mistreatment by coaches Ted Anderson and Eldridge Henry.

Anderson, the longtime head coach, said he did not recall ever calling Nolan "a bitch," as the player testified, but that he may have said something like he was "playing like a bitch."

Henry said the paddling was a tradition at Hamilton but that it only involved slight contact that would not injure a player or student.

Nolan testified the paddlings were frequent and painful.

Both men are at other schools and no longer coaching.

Another defendant, former Hamilton principal Sonny Hicks, told jurors he never saw the coaches involved in any inappropriate or abusive behavior toward their players.

Memphis City Schools Athletic Director Wayne Weedon, who testified for the defense, said he began monitoring Hamilton's games after hearing of the complaints by Nolan and his father, Nathaniel Nolan.

"I've seen (Anderson) coach hard, win and lose, but I never saw him put hands on his players or verbally abuse them," said Weedon. "Other than this complaint, I've had only positive feedback on Coach Anderson."

Attorney Michael Marshall, who represents Memphis City Schools in the suit, said the only complaint against the coaches came from Nolan and his father and that once Hicks received the complaint the problem stopped.

Nolan, who is seeking monetary damages, said his mistreatment by the coaches caused him physical and emotional injuries.

His attorney, William Winchester, said the school board also was to blame because it "turned a blind eye" to the practice.

The case before U.S. Dist. Court Judge Bernice Donald resumes this morning.

Copyright 2007, commercialappeal.com - Memphis, TN. All Rights Reserved.

Follow-up: 1 June 2007 - Coaches prevail in abuse lawsuit