Spanking, swats and licks.
A quarter of a million schoolchildren got them last year - and a new study says African American, American Indians and kids with disabilities got a disproportionate share of the punishment.
While a majority of states have outlawed corporal punishment, it remains widespread across the south, according to the study by the Human Rights Watch. The national P-T-A believes paddling should be banned everywhere.
And I wholeheartedly agree.
My seven brothers and sisters attended a Catholic grade school in south suburban Markham (no need to mention the name) - where they were routinely spanked by the nuns for getting out of line - which was quite often - I hate to say. Thankfully, I didn't attend that school.
Now that we're older, we sometimes joke around about the nuns and the spanking experience - and how it may have affected them. But, you know what? It’s not a joking matter anymore.
Elizabeth Gershoff, a professor of social work at the University of Michigan, says numerous studies show that corporal punishment can have negative effects on children - from making them act out more to using aggression to solve problems. Gershoff says it perpetuates a cycle of child abuse. And I agree.
Hitting children is the wrong way to solve problems.
After all - would we paddle, spank or swat an adult - if he or she was acting out?
To read the study for yourself, log onto: www.hrw.org
