A Kansas legislator wants to give teachers and caregivers greater leeway in the physical discipline of children. Current Kansas law allows spanking without leaving marks, but her proposed bill would allow up to 10 strikes of the hand and smacks hard enough to leave redness and bruising. Unsurprisingly, the very idea of physically inflicting red marks on a child has some folks…well, seeing red. This proposed bill would allow for such punishment of an 18-year old that is still in high school. (So theoretically, Little Johnny could vote in next fall’s midterm elections, but still get a whoopin’ at school the next day.) The bill would also allow a parent or caregiver to give authority to school personnel to apply corporate punishment to their child. (An interesting predicament for a teacher, if some of the kids in the class could be spanked and some could not.) It isn’t looking like this bill will go far, but it has certainly generated talk and controversy.
The United States Supreme Court ruled in Ingraham v. Wright 430 U.S. (651 (1977) that the Eight Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment did not apply to corporal punishment in schools, and that this was an area of state authority. Kansas is thus an exception to the 31 states that do not allow corporal punishment in schools. A child abuse expert at a nearby hospital stated that spanking is not only less effective than other disciplinary tactics, but is psychologically damaging as well. To the contrary there is always a choir of comments from those insisting they were spanked as a child and turned out “just fine.” (Of course, whether or not someone is “just fine” is a subjective question and beyond the scope of this blog.) Much more information can be found about this subject here.
Minnesota does not allow corporal punishment in schools, but local experts of both Minneapolis and St. Paul public schools suggest that the education system need better structure and/or discipline tactics than those currently employed. See the Minnesota Department of Education for specific information regarding discipline in Minnesota schools.
