Plenty of Schools Still Rely on Spanking

Think spanking in school is extinct? Think again. Nineteen states legally permit teachers and principals in public schools to spank a child, reports NPR. In Florida, for instance, more than 3,600 kids were spanked in 2010, usually with a wooden or fiberglass paddle, and usually in a rural district in the north. One mother is suing a school district there because her 5-year-old was spanked even after the mother refused to sign a waiver consenting to corporal punishment. Florida law, says an attorney, does not require parental consent.

"I been getting them since about first grade," said a high school junior from Bonifay, Florida. "It's just regular. They tell you to put your hands up on the desk and how many swats you're going to get." At Holmes County High school, spanking paddles are even fashioned by students in wood-shop class. A senior there describes being spanked for "throwing papers, throwing pencils, a couple times for cussing and then back-talking." Click for the full article, which includes supporters' reasons why it's a great form of discipline. (More spanking stories.)