Did corporal punishment save a struggling school?

jeeves — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:00:08 -0800

Three years ago, David Nixon took over the principalship at John C. Calhoun Elementary School. "Thirty minutes into his first day of school at John C, a father walked into Nixon's office and said, 'I want to give you the authority to whip my son's butt.' Nixon was surprised, but after he thought it over, he decided to give every parent the same option." Did corporal punishment save a struggling school? As of 2008, corporal punishment in American schools is legal in twenty-one states (no longer in Utah), mostly in the southeast. Children with disabilities, minority children, and boys are physically disciplined in schools disproportionately more often than other children, as noted by Human Rights Watch (report) and the Center for Effective Discipline (resources). Still-fascinating Corpun (previously) claims that most American students prefer the "'short sharp shock' of intense but brief pain to long, tedious hours of unhealthy incarceration," and observes that in South Korea, where corporal punishment is both legal and sometimes abusive, seventy percent of students think that teachers' use of the cane is fair. The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (policy) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (policy) both oppose corporal punishment in schools. The AAP also discourages the use of corporal punishment in the home. Elizabeth Gershoff's famous 2002 meta-analysis of 88 studies found ten "strong associations" between corporal punishment and negative child behaviors and experiences. Her 2008 summary report on principles and practices of effective discipline includes 130 references providing evidence and arguments against the use of physical punishment. Not everyone agrees that corporal punishment is always detrimental. (Indeed, Gershoff's meta-study received comments questioning its validity.) Robert Larzelere argues counter to Gershoff that "detrimental child outcomes are associated with the frequency of any disciplinary tactic, not just physical punishment," suggesting that "excessive misbehavior . . . is the actual cause of detrimental outcomes in children." Larzelere and Brett Kuhn's own 2005 meta-analysis finds that optimized corporal punishment results in significantly better outcomes (PDF) than alternatives like time-out, reasoning, privilege removal, scolding, and ignoring. Their executive summary (PDF) asserts that "outcomes of physical discipline depend on how it is applied." They castigate previous studies for ignoring the distinction between abusive vs. optimal use of corporal punishment. The Economist comments on the rapid decline of school corporal punishment elsewhere in the world and refers to the United Nations campaign to end all corporal punishment of children by 2009 as a piece of "Utopian dottiness." Back at John C. Calhoun Elementary, referrals to the principal's office have gone down by 80% since David Nixon's arrival, and the school has won "three statewide Palmetto awards, one for academic performance and two for overall improvement—the school's first such honors in its 35-year history. Not everyone agrees with his methods, but most parents and teachers will tell you [Nixon] couldn't have pulled off such a turnaround without his wooden paddle."

XQUZYPHYR — Mon, 26 Aug 2002 11:43:04 -0800

Easly High, home of the Scarlet Letters. Students violating the dress code of the South Carolina high school will now be forced to change into t-shirts bearing the phrases "Dress for Success" on the front and "Today I did not meet the dress code policy for proper attire" on the back. Boy, it's a good thing they're putting them on teenagers, because they would never think of creative ways to violate this idea in... what, about thirty seconds? Discuss your ideas for the new fashion trend: custom punishment signs!

bwg — Fri, 16 Mar 2001 06:49:51 -0800

gun-toting schoolkids to get dead bodies punishment
and the motion was passed unanimously.

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Did corporal punishment save a struggling school?

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