School Board Votes To Bring Paddling Punishment Back To Classrooms In Three Rivers, Texas

A Texas school district has voted to reinstate corporal punishment in their classrooms to discipline naughty kids. Three Rivers Independent School District, which is about 75 miles south of San Antonio, approved the measure in July 2017, much to the dismay of many parents and the general public. The policy will be enacted via paddling.

  1. They’re not the only Texas school district to embrace paddling. In fact, there are 26 other school districts in the state that are A-OK with paddling and corporal punishment in general. Kind of insane to think about in the 21st century, don’t you think?
  2. Parents will need to sign off on the paddling. Three Rivers insisted that they won’t just start paddling kids in school out of nowhere. Instead, parents will need to give the school permission to discipline their children in this way. “We think that corporal punishment should be a family decision, not a school decision,” superintendent Sheryl Moore said, according to CBS News. “We will provide the parent with all the information necessary regarding the situation so they can decide whether they think that’s appropriate. But that’s not something the school district wants to be involved in.”
  3. What exactly does Texas consider an offense worth paddling? One paddling will come to kids guilty of minor infractions such as disobeying classroom rules. To be honest, it seems like a slippery slope and it would only take a paddle-happy teacher to decide that a kid deserves beating for this to become a(n even more) abusive situation.
  4. Some people are actually on board with this! After the news was shared on Facebook by Houston, Texas-based news station KHOU11, people shared their opinions on bringing paddling to schools again. Oddly enough, many people supported it. As one commenter wrote, “If parents would teach their children how to act right, they wouldn’t have to worry about they’re [sic] kid getting paddled at school. I say if you don’t want someone to teach your kids respect, DO IT YOURSELF!” However, another pointed out that the policy could be a slippery slope, writing, “Do a little research on kids who were spanked and see that they are much more likely to end up in prison than kids who were disciplined with other methods. Paddling has no place in any school or home.”
  5. Somehow, I don’t think paddling students is going to solve any problems. Violence never does, so this seems like a terrible decision. If kids are misbehaving, maybe it’s important to address the core reasons why this might be rather than pushing via physical force.
Jennifer Still is a writer and editor with more than 10 years of experience. The managing editor of Bolde, she has bylines in Vanity Fair, Business Insider, The New York Times, Glamour, Bon Appetit, and many more. You can follow her on Twitter @jenniferlstill
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