The Ohio State Board of Education passed a resolution opposing the use of corporal punishment in schools Wednesday, according to a report from the department of education.
The board defined corporal punishment as any punishment inflicted to a student's body as a means of discipline. Spanking and paddling are the most common forms.
The board resolution supports a current bill in the Ohio General Assembly that would ban corporal punishment in all public schools.
House Bill 406 passed the House Education Committee last spring by a 15 to 6 margin; however, House representatives have not voted yet. If it passes, Ohio would join 29 other states that ban corporal punishment.
Current law in Ohio allows corporal punishment if the school district adopts a policy permitting it.
None of the five school districts in Athens County have adopted a policy of corporal punishment.
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even one paddled child is too many said Nadine Block, executive director of the Center for Effective Discipline.
Each school district is required to report both the number of students paddled and the total paddlings that occurred each year to the Department of Education, she said.
But the center confirms those numbers at each school district before releasing its own report, Block said.
Sometimes the numbers the Department of Education gets are incorrect
so we go ahead and call each school district to make sure what they reported is right
she said.
The center's report found several southern Ohio school districts with paddlings including Morgan Local School District in nearby Morgan County, which reported 66 paddlings ' the highest in the state.
Superintendent Lori Snyder-Lowe said the district rarely uses corporal punishment and parents are informed if the district decides to paddle a student.
We've used corporal punishment for many years and it's really the principal's discretion when to use corporal punishment
she said.
Corporal punishment is typically used in cases of physical violence or assault, verbal harassment and threats, she said.However, Block, the director of the center, said the center would continue to educate schools and parents about alternative forms of discipline as long as students are still being paddled.
(Corporal punishment) is a practice that should not exist in the 21st century
Block said.
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