Paddling At Georgia School Sparks National Debate

HEPHZIBAH, GA – Florence isn't the only major storm in the news this week. A flood of opinions and flashbacks of parents who were spanked in school has been unleashed thanks to a new Georgia school policy that allows paddling as a form of discipline.

Georgia School for Innovation and the Classics, located in Hephzibah, Georgia, about two hours east of Atlanta, recently sent parents consent forms, informing them of the new wooden paddle corporal policy at the school. GSIC is a K through 9 charter school.

The story has garnered a flurry of attention by national news agencies, appearing on the NBC Nightly News, TIME magazine and CNN, just to name a few.

Superintendent Jody Boulineau would not tell USA TODAY if any students have faced the punishment yet. The school told a local TV station that it will use a three strike system before implementing the corporal punishment.

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The superintendent reportedly told news agencies that more than a hundred forms have been returned with about 33 percent of them granting permission to paddle their child.

"It is a legal choice made by the parent as one option among many in the discipline policy," said Julie Hawkins, principal. "I do agree that parents have the legal right to consent or not consent. Up to a five-day suspension is one option out of many that can be considered for repeat offenses rather than paddling.

"It is still legal in Georgia and 19 other states, and to my knowledge is still practiced in nearby counties such as Burke County and some private schools," she said to Patch in an email.

According to TIME, the spanking must happen in the “presence of an adult witness.” The paddle has to be wooden and “24 inches in length, six inches in width and 3/4 inches in thickness.”

According to the form parents are asked to sign: "A student will be taken into an office behind closed doors. The student will place their hands on their knees or piece of furniture and will be struck on the buttocks with a paddle."

The guideline is that no more than three swats should be administered. The policy also requires the student’s parents be notified.

In another TIME article, Pope Francis offered recently it was alright for a parent to punish a misbehaving child with a whack "if dignity was maintained.”

"More than three quarters of men and 65% of women in the United States say they support giving children the occasional 'good, hard spanking,'" as TIME reported in their parenting feature The Discipline Wars.

People are already responding on the school's Facebook page.

Amanda Fausey Fegan-Shanholtzer, who said she is a parent, also said she was appalled.

"Just hearing the story on the news today horrified my 11-year-old. He was appalled that any adult would result to physical harm of a child for any reason and was mortified by the trauma and humiliation that would be a result. He was ready to go to bat for the kids.

"Congrats, my preteen knows more about being a decent human being than your superintendent."

Sherry Duchaine had this to say, "By not enacting corporal punishment on children, which creates more sexual deviants like those who get off on the power and painful cries of children while paddling their buttocks. SICK behavior most likely done to these predators when they were children. Sad and too late for them, unless they seek psychiatric help and it works. STOP this NOW!"

Tom Johnson had a lot to say, in fact, eight points. Here is just a small part of it.

Some arguments to consider:
1. School paddling is inconsistent with Title IX, because it inherently impacts boys and girls unequally. Unlike boys, girls who have entered puberty would have to reveal intimate personal information in order to avoid the chance of this punishment being unfairly compounded by menstrual discomfort or of being a risk factor where there is the possibility of pregnancy or other female-specific vulnerabilities. Either the school does not address such concerns when paddling girls — concerns which many students may be too embarrassed or intimidated to volunteer — or it intrusively does inquire about them. There are at least two known incidents where paddling had medical consequences due to a student being female, one in Dunn, N.C. from 1981 (ref: "Don't Inflict My Pain on Others," by Shelly S. Gaspersohn, USA Today, Oct. 23, 1984) and another in Scioto County, Ohio from 1997 (ref: "Some Ohio schools not sparing the rod – Corporal punishment allowed in districts," The Plain Dealer (Cleveland), Sept. 24, 2000).

Photo of paddles by David McNew/Getty Images
Photo of school courtesy Georgia School for Innovation and the Classics