As part of his senior project about the use of corporal punishment in schools, Bossier High school student Sheppard Stutts made paddles based on the dimensions specified in each school board’s policy manuals. This is his presentation.

1. Corporal Punishment in Schools
Corporal Punishment in Schools
The Board of Education
by Sheppard Alann Stutts
by Sheppard Alann Stutts
“
“The measure of
worth of a society is how it treats its
weakest and most vulnerable citizens.
By this standard, America—the
richest nation in the history of the
world—falls visibly short.”
Theodore R. Sizer
Instructor: Ms. Colene Pipes

2. The Board of Education
Definitions
 Corporal Punishment
“the intentional infliction of physical pain”
 Violence
“the intentional use of physical force or power”

3. The Board of Education
Louisiana Law: R.S. 17:223(A)
 Each parish and city school board shall have discretion in
the use of corporal punishment.
 If used, each parish or city school board shall adopt such
rules and regulations as it deems necessary to
implement and control any form of corporal punishment
in the schools in its district.
Shreveport Representative Barbara Norton
 House Bill 732 – 2010 Regular Session
 Ban Corporal Punishment in Louisiana Schools
 Failed to pass vote 8-6

4. The Board of Education
Paddling
 Hazing
 Erotic purposes
 Corporal Punishment in Schools
Forms of Corporal Punishment Include
 biting, pinching, shaking, shoving, pulling or
throwing to the floor
 denying, restricting, refusing or forcing
 spanking, slapping, or smacking
 hitting with a belt, a ruler, or a set of rulers taped
together
 grabbing the arm, neck or elsewhere with enough
force to bruise

5. The Board of Education
Facts
 Over 220,000 students paddled each year
 Some children paddled at twice the rate:
 Poor children
 Minority children
 Disabled children
 Most students paddled for minor infractions
 Violating dress code
 Tardy for school
 Talking in classroom or hallway
 Chewing gum

6. The Board of Education
Parish Policy for Size of Wooden Paddles
 Webster
 15 inches long, 6 inches wide, ½ inch thick
 Caddo
 24 inches long, 5 inches wide, ⅜ inch thick
 Bossier
 18 inches long, 3-6 inches wide, ⅜ inch thick

7. The Board of Education
Serious Physical Injuries
 Society for Adolescent Medicine reports
 Severe muscle injury
 Extensive blood-clotting (hematomas),
 Whiplash damaging and hemorrhaging
 Other physical effects from this practice
 Broken wrist
 Passed out from pain
 Soiled their clothes from pain
 Hospitalization

8. The Board of Education
Institutions - Illegal
 Military
 Prisons
 Medical Facilities
 Nursing Homes
 Day Care Centers
 Foster Care
 Animals
Institutions - Legal
 Schools

9. The Board of Education
Countries that have banned Corporal Punishment In Schools
Afghanistan Egypt Kuwait Russian Federation
Albania El Salvador Kyrgyzstan San Marino
Algeria Estonia Lao PDR Sao Tome & Principe
Andorra Ethiopia Latvia Senegal
Angola Falkland Islands Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Serbia
Armenia Fiji Liechtenstein Slovakia
Austria Finland Lithuania Slovenia
Azerbaijan Gabon Luxembourg South Africa
Bahrain Georgia Malawi South Sudan
Belarus Germany Maldives Spain
Belgium Greece Mali Suriname
Bosnia & Herzegovina Greenland Malta Sweden
Bulgaria Guinea Marshall Islands Switzerland
Burkina Faso Guinea-Bissau Mauritius Taiwan
Cambodia Haiti Micronesia, Fed. States TFYR Macedonia
Cameroon Honduras Monaco Thailand
Canada Hungary Mongolia Togo
Chad Iceland Montenegro Tonga
China India Namibia Turkmenistan
Congo, Republic of Iran, Islamic Rep. of Netherlands UK
Costa Rica Iraq New Zealand Ukraine
Croatia Ireland Nicaragua United Arab Emirates
Cyprus Israel Norway Uruguay
Denmark Italy Oman Uzbekistan
Djibouti Japan Philippines Poland Vanuatu
Dominican Republic Jordan Portugal Venezuela
DR Congo Kenya Republic of Moldova Yemen
Ecuador Kiribati Romania Zambia

10. The Board of Education
Industrialized Countries that Allow Corporal Punishment
United States of America
Statistics
 Murder rate
 Prison population
 Raising children
 High school completion rate
 Unwed mother birth rate
 Poverty rate

11. The Board of Education
Murder Rate
Highest Lowest
Louisiana North Dakota
Mississippi South Dakota
Maryland Maine/Idaho
Georgia Vermont
Alabama/New Mexico Iowa
Tennessee/Illinois New Hampshire
North Carolina/Arizona Montana
Utah
Oregon

12. The Board of Education
Prison Population
Highest Lowest
Louisiana Minnesota
Texas Maine
Mississippi North Dakota
Oklahoma New Hampshire
Georgia Rhode Island
Alabama West Virginia
South Carolina Vermont
Arizona Nebraska
Nevada Washington
Delaware Massachusetts

13. The Board of Education
High School Completion Rate
Worst Best
Arizona Maine
Nevada North Dakota
Texas Alaska
Alabama/Colorado Missouri
Louisiana South Dakota
Mississippi Minnesota
New Mexico/Oregon Hawaii
California Connecticut
Nebraska

14. The Board of Education
Raising Children
Worst Best
Mississippi Minnesota
Louisiana Maine
New Mexico North Dakota
Arkansas New Hampshire
Alabama Rhode Island
Arizona West Virginia
Georgia Vermont
Tennessee Nebraska
South Carolina Washington
North Carolina Massachusetts

15. The Board of Education
Organizations Opposed to Corporal Punishment in Schools
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
American Academy of Family Physicians
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Counseling Association
American of School Administrators
American Bar Association
American Civil Liberties Union
American Humane Association
American Humanist Association
American Medical Association
American Orthopsychiatric Association
American Psychiatric Association
American Psychological Association
American Public Health Association
American School Counselor Association
Association for Childhood Education International
www.stophitting.com/index.php?page=usorgs
Association of Junior Leagues
Council for Exceptional Children
Defense for Children International
Friends Committee on Legislation
International Society for the Study of Dissociation
http://www.stophitting.com/index.php?page=usorgs

16. The Board of Education
Organizations Opposed to Corporal Punishment in Schools
National Association for State Departments of Education
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
National Association for the Education of Young Children
National Association of Elementary School Principals
National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners
National Association of School Nurses
National Association of School Psychologists
National Association of Secondary School Principals
National Association of Social Workers
National Association for State Boards of Education
National Council of Teachers of English
National Education Association
National Foster Parents Association
National Indian Education Association
National Mental Health Association
National Organization for Women
National Parent Teachers Association
National Women's Political Caucus
Prevent Child Abuse America
Society for Adolescent Medicine
Unitarian Universalist General Assembly
United Methodist Church General Assembly
U.S. Department of Defense: Office of Dependents Schools Overseas

17. The Board of Education
A Controverial Issue?
 a mountain of accumulated evidence—20 years
 no studies that show any long term positive outcomes
from physical punishment
 over 100 studies showing the damage physical
punishment can have on a child
 aggression
 antisocial
 cognitive impairment
 developmental difficulties
 depression
 substance abuse

18. The Board of Education
“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.”
- Aldous Huxley

19. Corporal Punishment in Schools
Corporal Punishment in Schools
The Board of Education
by Sheppard Alann Stutts
“
“The measure of
worth of a society is how it treats its
weakest and most vulnerable citizens.
By this standard, America—the
richest nation in the history of the
world—falls visibly short.”
Theodore R. Sizer
Instructor: Ms. Colene Pipes