Corporal punishment legal in state of Georgia

Many people have heard of spanking, paddling, caning, lashing, popping, smacking, whupping, beating and so on. Each of these words refers to a certain kind of corporal punishment and carries special connotations.

Corporal punishment has become a widely debated issue throughout the United States when it comes to education. During the 1950s and 60s corporal punishment was not a big deal. Teachers kept rulers in their classrooms for popping knuckles when a student misbehaved and the principal kept the paddle for when a student got into major trouble in the classroom. At that time this behavior was accepted on all levels and in no way referred to as child abuse. It was only a disciplinary tool.

Georgia is one of 22 states that still have a legalized form of corporate punishment. However, state law does mandate specific requirements when it comes to using this method of punishment. As required by Official Code of Georgia Annotated Section 20-2-731, corporal punishment shall not be excessive or unduly severe or used as a first line of punishment for misbehavior unless the pupil was informed beforehand. Georgia law also states that corporal punishment must be administered in the presence of a principal, assistant principal or designee and that the individual who administered the corporal punishment must provide the child's parent, upon request, a written explanation of the reasons for the punishment and the name of the official present.

Even though laws have been put on the books allowing corporal punishment, the final decision remains with individual school districts as to whether or not to allow its teachers to spank pr paddle their students. Several counties in Georgia have already banned this form of punishment, while others, such as Lanier County, have reinstated the policy.
According to www.stophitting.com, in the 2004-2005 school year, 272,028 school children in the United States were subjected to physical punishment. This is a significant drop of almost 10%, continuing a steady trend from the early 1980s. This statistic shows that either this physical punishment is working to deter bad behavior or parents and teacher have developed new methods for disciplining children.

Whatever the case may be, I believe that corporal punishment is a good tool when beginning to discipline children at young ages. How else are they going to know better? At young ages many children don’t understand “no” or “don’t do that” unless it’s accompanied by some form of punishment. This is where a small pop on the hand or smack on the butt could come in handy. I am by no means saying that a parent should turn their child black or blue to teach them what they can or can not do. However, a parent should be allowed to use their own discretion as to how they can raise their kids inside the home or how a teacher can discipline them inside a classroom.