Neko wrote:Kaiser Convoy wrote:to Nekko:
My statements are broad because im a cryptic and very silent person at times, and can also be very vague so i was providing some substance to what i was referring to.
Gotcha.
Autobot032,
How is it even legal to allow that? A principal spanking student?
Back then in the mid-80s, here in PA, if the parents gave permission, the school officials were allowed to perform corporal punishment. (To a degree, though. This guy clearly went overboard.) According to Answers.com some U.S. states still allow it!
Answers.com wrote:Corporal punishment of schoolchildren is still sanctioned in many states.
I've no idea if PA is still included among them. I do know though, you had to have parental permission before the schools could do it.
Another quoted piece from that article:
Answers.com wrote:Caning and spanking remain common in schools in some areas of the United States and Britain. Movements to restore or encourage corporal punishment of children recur periodically, as in rural and Southern parts of the United States.
The Caning part got me...spanking is one thing, but to actually whack a kid with a stick? Ow...(though nothing, and I mean nothing hurts like a paddle with holes drilled in it.)
Answers.com wrote:Corporal punishment, usually in the form of paddling, though practiced in U.S. schools since the American Revolution, was only sanctioned by the U.S. Supreme Court in the late 1970s. In Ingraham v. Wright, 430 U.S. 651, 97 S. Ct. 1401, 51 L. Ed. 2d 711 (1977), students from a Florida junior high school had received physical punishment, including paddling so severe that one student required medical treatment. The plaintiffs, parents of students who had been disciplined, brought suit against the school district, alleging that corporal punishment in public schools constituted cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The plaintiffs also maintained that the Fourteenth Amendment required due process procedures before corporal punishment could be administered.
The Supreme Court rejected the Eighth Amendment claim, holding that the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment was designed to protect persons convicted of crimes, not students who were paddled as a form of discipline. The Court also held that though corporal punishment did implicate a constitutionally protected liberty interest, traditional common-law remedies, such as filing an action in tort, were "fully adequate to afford due process." Thus, the Court concluded, teachers could use "reasonable but not excessive" corporal punishment to discipline students.
Since the Supreme Court's decision in Ingraham, corporal punishment in the schools has been challenged on other constitutional grounds.
Absolutely ridiculous, isn't it?
(For full article details, here's the link:
http://www.answers.com/corporal+punishm ... fin&gwp=16)
Sid Burn wrote:Autobot032 wrote:The police were called and things got really ugly. My dad's friend got fined (and I think a small 72 hour stint...) and the principal was suspended without pay. More kids came forward and told the police how the principal beat them as well.
I cant believe your fathers friend was charged with all the evidence of child abuse by your principal evident.
What a crock, the cops should have shook his hand and thanked him.
I don't know what his exact charges were (that part my parents kept me out of) but if I had to venture a guess...
1.) Assault and battery: Smacking the principal with the paddle, then punching him in the face.
2.) Terroristic threats: Telling the principal he'd kill him, etc.
So, if you look at it from the law's point of view, my dad's friend *did* commit a crime, no matter what the reasoning.
Fortunately, that rathole of a town is now under the jurisdiction of the State Police, instead of the town cop. (They forced him out, because he was corrupt.) He was a nice guy, a really nice guy. He'd let you go on traffic violations all the time (including DUI, if it wasn't excessive), and turn a blind eye to drugs, but when he wanted to, geez Louise...could he be terrible when he finally did crack down. (Sheriff Smitty was his nickname...I'll never forget that.) The State Police came into town and cracked down on the whole thing.
Smitty only took action because his kids were in the school as well, and he didn't want his kids beaten by the principal. Not to mention, all of those kids coming forward would've made for a huge mess if he didn't do something.
It was one of the only good things he had done.
You gotta understand, this is a really small, backwoods hick town. Up until a few years ago, African-Americans weren't even allowed in. (That's part of why Smitty was forced out and the State Police took over. To actually protect the Afro/Am when they moved in.) Stuff like paddling the kids was commonplace.
(For more information:
http://www.city-data.com/city/Saegertow ... vania.html and that picture of the Gazebo at the top, is the town park. Literally, that Gazebo and the patch of grass it sits on..is the park. lol)
I wouldn't doubt it if they still perform corporal punishment in Saegertown...but I promise one thing....if anyone spanks my kids (whenever I finally have them) like I was...
I'll beat that person senseless, I'll leave them so black and blue, they'll have to stand in front of a white wall just to be seen in daylight. Oh heck no, ain't gonna happen.
Oh and in case anyone still doesn't know what kind of paddle I'm talking about...
It's a piece of wood about 15 inches long, and about 1.5-2.0 inches thick (so while it's not unmanageable, it's not light either, so there's some force behind it..) and generally has 8-10 holes drilled in it. I'd say about the size of a Nickel, to a Quarter. As you swing this paddle, the air is forced through the holes, causing the paddle to have more force, and when it connects, the skin actually enters the holes briefly. And this swatting is repeated about 2-3 times. It will leave welts, bruising, pain (scale of 1-10, a solid 13) and the physical remnants can last upward of a week!
>_< I still cringe when I think about it.
NOTE: Realize that I am not a perfect Christian, nor do I profess to be. I apologize if anyone's ever offended by me, I'm not perfect. Don't hold my posts and opinions against other Christians.