And all this time, I've been putting the accent on Bible, when I should've been putting it on Belt.
Still, it answers a question that's had me stumped since elementary school in North Carolina. Whipping was every week, right after we had our little cups of flouride swish, and right before gym. Our principal used to tell us, "Spare the rod and spoil the Human Rights Watch report!"
For some reason, the HRW survey did not research the use of hot sauce in response to sass.
Prevalence of Corporal Punishment in US Public Schools [hrw.org via dt reader ponch]
[update/flashback: the mention of paddling in the comments reminds me that my NC grade school principal DID walk around with his paddle hanging from his belt. All joking aside. And it wasn't just for birthdays either, though there was that. Should I be traumatized?]
I'd love to see the HRC table showing corporal punishment rates (as a percentage of all students within a given state) compared with the literacy rates in those states...
I somehow naively assumed that corporal punishment in public schools had been universally abolished a half-century ago. Ah, America.
I have to say, I was never paddled when I didn't deserve it. And I probably did less things to deserve it *because* of the threat of paddlin'. I also learned that you can ease the pain by pressing your buns up against the cool, smooth steel of the water fountain. Sweet relief!
Though my kids grew up in the age of "time-out", without the wooden threat, and as far as I can tell they haven't turned into anti-social miscreants. Well, they *are* liberals, but so am I, so obviously I didn't get paddled nearly enough...
The only time I recall being paddled was completely gratuitous; I'd have to say it definitely contributed to a basic distrust of authority. The threat of paddlin' to me was completely ineffective, as I figured heck, they'd do it if they wanted to regardless of whether I was at fault, so I might as well have the fun of it.
I'm expecting my first child in a couple of weeks, so it'll be interesting to find out where my wife and I end up along that scale, though. :)
I never got a whoopin' but my brother did.
He had a teacher that would take old hockey sticks and cut them off at around 2 feet long at a 45 degree angle. He would then take the stick and jam it into his students ribs.
Ah, to bring back the good old days.
corporal punishment needs to be made LAW - and people should wake up to the fact that we are losing our nation - by losing our children! give the control back to the teacher - children need to respect them and if they don't they need to know that there is a boundary line, NOT a court room to sue and win money in! this nation will continue to LOSE until it wakes up and returns to "our first love" that is the faith based belief in ONE God (the God of Israel)... we need to start back and parents who are opposed to this will eventually catch on! We are better off with it than without it!