My mother refused to spank me. And by that choice alone, she is a straight up visionary, way ahead of her time as a 19 year old single mother in the early 60’s. What amplifies her smart instincts is the fact that she had spent a formative part of her childhood growing up in the Deep South, during Jim Crow. She watched first hand as black mothers would have to beat their own black sons and daughters in front of white onlookers in order to save their children’s lives.

But when she gave birth to me she committed to a different vow. And further, as I moved into school during the first throes of mandatory busing and integration, she was constantly in teacher conferences with my white teachers who did not know how to deal with a gifted, mouthy, precocious black child. It sometimes took my mom three buses and comp time from one of her two jobs to get to the school that I was bused to; but she always made it and I always knew she had my back. She kept those teachers who might have broken my spirit, intentionally or unintentionally, in check. I was then free to fly; to grow my mind and my imagination.

That is why the latest reports revealing that black and Native Indian children are more likely to be paddled in school by teachers and other school officials set off a visceral alarm for me. Here’s the bad news:

African American students are more than twice as likely to be paddled. The disparity persists even in places with large black populations, the study found. Similarly, Native Americans were more than twice as likely to be paddled, the study found.

The study also found:

–In states where paddling is most common, black girls were paddled more than twice as often as white girls.

–Boys are three times as likely to be paddled as girls.

–Special education kids were more likely to be paddled.

More than 100 countries worldwide have banned paddling in schools, including all of Europe, Farmer said. “International human rights law puts a pretty strong prohibition on corporal punishment,” she said. SOURCE

And before you let your mind race to Michelle Pfeiffer look alike teachers being menaced by incorrigible street toughs in the classroom, let’s take a look at what passes for a beating worthy offense:

Paddlings, swats, licks. A quarter of a million schoolchildren got them last year — and blacks, American Indians and kids with disabilities got a disproportionate share of the punishment, according to a study by a human rights group.

Even little kids can be paddled. Heather Porter, who lives in Crockett, Texas, was startled to hear her little boy, then 3, say he’d been spanked at school. Porter was never told, despite a policy at the public preschool that parents be notified.

“We were pretty ticked off, to say the least. The reason he got paddled was because he was untying his shoes and playing with the air conditioner thermostat,” Porter said. “He was being a 3-year-old.”
SOURCE

When he is beaten for curiosity, when he’s beaten for “ants in the pants”, what do you think that teaches him about exploration of his environment?

What do you think about spanking, paddling, swatting, beating kids in school?

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