Why Corporal Punishment in Schools Should Be Outlawed

When parents deliver corporal punishment to their kids, they sometimes back this up by saying it's done out of love. For the record, I believe that 99 percent of the time, it's done out of anger, frustration and impatience - a quick fix.

But if you yourself truly think you hit your children out of love, then ask yourself this: If you do it out of love, why does a school teacher do it? Is that whack on the fingers from the yardstick, or that paddling on the tush, done because Miss Olson loves her students?

Teachers are prone to as much anger, frustration and impatience as parents are. So when a teacher strikes a child, love has nothing to do with it. Quite frankly, some teachers don't give a hoot about your child's feelings, hopes, fears, future, goals, or whatever. All that teacher wants is a quick solution.

On the other hand, let's not forget that teachers are human. Like the rest of us, they are capable of having it in for someone, for no particular reason. Perhaps someone at your workplace gets on your nerves and rubs you the wrong way, even though that person has never actually done any harm to you. Some teachers feel this way about particular students.

Did you know that boys, far more than girls, are more likely to get hit by teachers? This isn't because girls are better behaved! Girls can be as "bad" or as wild as any boy!

Now, out of all the boys who get struck by their teachers, did you know that a disproportionate number of them are black?

Being a black boy in America means a much higher risk of getting physically struck by a school teacher. Why is this? Do teachers love black boys more than any other demographic? Or do teachers feel they can get away more with hitting boys - especially boys of color? Something's not right here.

Teachers do not have to get physical to control a class. Think back to your school days: the teachers who always had the most control of their classes. What were they like? Did they go around smacking and slapping and spanking the students? The teachers I remember whose classes were always well-behaved, were the calmest teachers - not a wishy-washy calm, but a stern, "I'm in charge" type of calm.

The second-most successful teacher was the one who could connect and relate to the students - a teacher who had a vibrant personality and people skills.

If corporal punishment is permitted in schools, where would it end? Kids will be getting hit just because teachers don't like the way they walk, sit or wear their hair. There will be favoritism towards the popular, good-looking kids - they'll get away with all sorts of infractions - while the not-so-good-looking, or maybe even kids of color or chubby kids - will get the short end of the hand or paddle.

And would there be an age limit? What if a male teacher smacks a 14-year-old female student on the behind? Might this be interpreted as a sexual assault? What if a 200-pound male teacher rams a hand into the shoulder of an 88-pound, 4-11 teenaged girl? Might this girl's boyfriend seek retaliation? Or maybe her parents will sue because girl's collar bone was fractured.

What if a female teacher, unable to manage her frustration, throws a closed fist at the chest of a 6-2, 200 pound football player - and he hits her back? And what about kids who are always thinking of that day when they will be the same size as the teacher who was always picking on them? One day, Miss Olson strikes Sarah - who grew four inches over the summer -- and Sarah pushes her to the floor.

And just how should the punishment be delivered? Yardstick smackings? Spankings? Would there be an age cut-off? If not, how would teachers punish older, bigger kids? What if the teacher is a man and the student is a girl? What if the student is bigger and stronger than the teacher? What if the teacher decides to bear-hug the student? What if the teacher, in this case, is a male, and the student he's containing in his hairy arms is a girl? Where does one draw the line?

If corporal punishment is permitted in schools, it will create a huge mess. There are other ways to handle "out of control" kids (a la "Stand and Deliver," the movie based on the true story of the math teacher who transformed a class of rowdy inner-city burnouts into national calculus champions - without ever raising his hand), and also keep in mind that many kids who have ever gotten hit by a teacher were perfectly innocent. Like Phillip. He was in my fourth grade math class. Standing over him while he was in his seat, Sister Rose slugged him several times in the back! What was Phillip's infraction? He didn't understand his math lesson!

What if you don't understand the new computer program at work? Does this give your boss the right to slug you on your back? I might also add that Sister Rose never hit the girls! She really had it in for the boys. Maybe her father abused her...