Adams County/Ohio Valley School district held its annual public corporal punishment meeting on Aug. 25 to discuss the use of spanking in its schools. AC/OVSD is one of 17 districts in the state of Ohio to permit its staff to spank students.
"The number of students who receive corporal punishment in the district has declined," said Rodney Wallace, supervisor of state and federal programs for the district. Five years ago, corporal punishment was used on 60 students in four of the buildings which still remain in AC/OVSD (after the Manchester split). Of those students, 14 were spanked more than once. During that school year, Peebles High School, West Union High School and Ohio Valley Career and Technical Center did not use corporal punishment.
During the past two school years, corporal punishment was used in only two of the district's seven school buildings. A total of 11 students were spanked at North Adams Elementary and Peebles Elementary combined during the 2007-08 school year. One of the students at Peebles was spanked twice.
"There are two reasons for the decline, alternative programs and liability," Wallace said. From suggestions the district received at past public meetings, the district added a teacher at the Alternative School and expanded its services to the elementary level. Additional training for teachers in classroom management/behavior techniques, emotionally disturbed units for students and the SAFE Schools program were among the suggestions implemented.
"There is a bill in the House that will eliminate corporal punishment," said Wallace. "If it is passed into law, our district will be prepared with the programs we already have in place."
House Bill 406 was introduced in September of 2007 by Jon M. Peterson (R), District 2, and Brian G. Williams (D), District 41. Language in the submitted bill states, "No person employed or engaged as a teacher, principal, administrator, nonlicensed school employee or bus driver in a public school may inflict or cause to be inflicted corporal punishment as a means of discipline upon a pupil attending such school."
However, HB 406 does permit use of force in a threatening situation. It also states, "Persons employed or engaged as teachers, principals, or administrators in a school, whether public or private, and nonlicensed school employees and school bus drivers may, within the scope of their employment, use and apply such amount of force and restraint as is reasonable and necessary to quell a disturbance threatening physical injury to others, to obtain possession of weapons or other dangerous objects upon the person or within the control of the pupil, for the purpose of self-defense, or for the protection of persons or property."
The bill is currently in the hands of the Education Committee.
Reader Comments Posted: Thursday, September 04, 2008
Article comment by:
Jeffrey Charles
I host a website, www.nopaddle.com, about school paddling as physical abuse, sexual abuse, and sexual harassment.
Although many of the worst sexual problems are mitigated by limiting CP to early grades, many people with lifelong spanking and paddling fetishes develop them in these years, sometimes just from knowing that peers are paddled, or from being threatened with it in the hostile environment.
It sounds like the AC/OV districts are moving well away from paddling -- so why not go all the way? Why wait for the cumbersome state elected officials to someday force an end to something that is professional quackery at best, and abuse at worst?
Posted: Thursday, September 04, 2008
Article comment by:
nadine block
Congratulations to Adams County/Ohio Valley School District for reducing paddling. It would be better if they banned it completely like 106 nations, 29 states, and all but l3 school districts in Ohio. Forty eight Ohio organizations are calling for a ban on school paddling because it is harmful and ineffective. The Governor supports a ban. There has been no opponent testimony in the Statehouse against the HB 406. Do your OH Representative and Senator support a ban?
Posted: Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Article comment by:
Robert E. Fathman, Ph.D.
Teachers and principals in 109 nations [every developed country in the world except the U.S.], 29 states and nearly 600 other school districts in Ohio all successfully educate children without striking them with boards. The Adams County Ohio Valley School Board needs to completely end the practice without delay, and parents should send in letters saying they want their children protected from any infliction of physical punishment by the school employees.
Posted: Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Article comment by:
sheber
Since all schools inevitably have children that need to be disciplined, I think it would be interesting to know who is doing the paddling. Which administrator(s) are paddling when so many others aren't?
