Paddling a student’s hind parts was still a thing at a few North Carolina schools until a Tuesday vote by the Robeson County school board put an end to corporal punishment in one of the two counties where it was still on the books.
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Board members voted narrowly (6-5) to end the practice of corporal punishment, or spanking, after it was first reported by Scott Bigelow, the Charlotte Observer reports.
Surprisingly the newspaper also found that in an earlier vote a majority of the parents still wanted to keep the practice in place.
But against the parents wishes, the board voted down the disciplinary measure of physical pain against students in Robeson.
Now only Graham County in the mountains of North Carolina continues the practice, according to North Carolina state statute.
North Carolina has a statute that allows individual school to decide how students are disciplined.
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The following includes the guidelines and limitations on corporal punishment:
“▪ Corporal punishment cannot be administered in a classroom with other students present;
▪ Only an agent of the state — a teacher, principal or assistant principal — can administer corporal punishment and must do so in the presence of someone else in those categories;
▪ The school must notify the student’s parent that corporal punishment has been administered and the person who administered the punishment must provide a written explanation of why, and name the witness who was present;
▪ The school must keep a record of each instance of corporal punishment;
▪ Excessive force, or force that causes injury to the student that requires medical attention beyond simple first aid, is prohibited;
▪ If a parent does not want a school to use physical pain to discipline their child, the parent must fill out a form at the beginning of the school year. If the form is not completed, the school is allowed to hit the student.”
“The form shall advise the parent or guardian that the student may be subject to suspension, among other possible punishments, for offenses that would otherwise not require suspension if corporal punishment were available,” North Carolina law states.
It was reported that Robeson County used corporal punishment 41 times and it was used 34 times in Graham County during the 2016-17 school year, state records show.
The American Psychological Association is against the use of the practice in schools saying using physical punishment on children “instills hostility, rage and a sense of powerlessness without reducing undesirable behavior.”