San Francisco Chronicle, 25 February 1959

Parents Rebuffed in School Discipline

Sessions Judge Willard Dixon said whacking errant students was not probable cause for an assault charge -- that the boys needed it and that the principal was within his legal rights.

The judge called the informal conference to hear complaints of six mothers and a father who came up fighting mad after their sons were punished for trying to start a school cafeteria boycott.

Dixon cited a 1944 ruling by the State Supreme Court, which said school teachers have -- to a reasonable degree -- the disciplinary rights of parents while the child is in their care.

A mother argued the punishment, though perhaps deserved, was too severe.

"You should have seen my boy's rear end," cried Mrs. George B. Scott.

The judge was unmoved. "I have seen my own rear end after similar incidents," he said.

The trouble started when Principal John Barnes of Bartlett High School carried out a threat to shut down the soft drink machine in the cafeteria after it became clogged with lead slugs.

In reprisal, Barnes said about 20 boys tried to organize a boycott of the cafeteria. When their efforts failed they left the school grounds without permission.

Barnes said the boys who were caught were given a choice.

Either bring their parents to school for a chat with the principal, or take a paddling -- seven whacks on the stern with a maple paddle about 12 inches long, 3 inches wide and 3/8ths of an inch thick -- and nothing more said.

Life, New York, 1959 [probably 9 March]

Protest over a principal's paddling

In a judge's chambers in Memphis, Tenn., LaDraun Gardner [described in another publication as 18 years old -- CF] (center), backed by Mrs. George Scott (to left), angrily faced John Barnes, principal of Bartlett High School (second from right). Gardner and his schoolmates came with two parents who wanted the principal arrested for giving the boys disciplinary paddlings. Superintendent George Barnes (far right) supported his brother John. So did Judge Willard Dixon (lower left), who refused to issue a warrant. When a parent complained that Barnes had moved furniture to get swinging room, Judge Dixon said, "If he wants a running start, maybe he needs it."

Newsweek, New York, 9 March 1959

AS SEVEN angry Tennessee parents learned last week, the tune of the hickory stick can still ring -- legally -- through the halls of many American schools. The parents, who demanded assault warrants on behalf of their sons against Principal John Barnes of Bartlett High School, near Memphis, were rebuffed by Judge Willard Dixon, who cited a state supreme-court decision -- similar to rulings in every state -- that in the absence of local statutes to the contrary, teachers may physically punish students because they stand "in loco parentis" (in the place of parents) during school hours. In all, Barnes gave twenty boys (including Travis Cogburn Jr., shown above with his mother and Barnes) seven licks each with a 12-by-3-inch paddle for their part in an attempted boycott of their school's cafeteria. "You should have seen my boy's rear end!" cried one mother. "I have seen my own rear end after similar incidents," the judge replied.