Corporal punishment causes controversy among Louisiana parents

When her family moved to Vernon Parish, Leigh Tuttle started researching kindergarten options. Coming from out of state, Tuttle was shocked to learn her son would be exposed to what she calls an "archaic corporal punishment system."

Louisiana is one of 19 states nationwide that still allow corporal punishment and ranks 10th for most incidents per year — with more than 11,000 incidents of students being physically disciplined in 2008, according to the Center for Effective Discipline.

"The district he would attend does allow an opt-out, but the children who opt out are still exposed," Tuttle said. "They may not be the ones being abused, but I imagine they hear the threats made to other children and the stories that spread after it happens to a classmate."

Rapides Parish schools logged 66 incidents of corporal punishment in 2013-14, according to federal data. Across Central Louisiana, the school districts with the highest number of incidents during the same year were Avoyelles with 145 and Vernon with 275.

Louisiana parents in favor cited corporal punishment as an effective form of classroom management and a way to teach proper social behavior. But many child and adolescent organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine, have officially stated corporal punishment can cause long-term harm and that other practices, such as positive behavior intervention and supports and trauma-informed care, can better help students succeed both academically and behaviorally.

The use of corporal punishment in Louisiana

In 2013-14, about half of Rapides schools reported incidents of corporal punishment. At most, schools — including Tioga Elementary, Poland Junior High and Mary Goff Elementary — used it 9-10 times. Alexandria High School was the only high school with any logged incidents, and there were just two.

In Vernon, 14 schools used corporal punishment, according to 2013-14 data. Pickering High School logged 95 incidents, Pitkin High School had 37, and East Leesville Elementary, Hicks High, Hornbeck High and West Leesville Elementary each reported between 18 and 29.

All elementary schools in Avoyelles logged cases; Bunkie and Plaucheville elementary schools each reported more than 50.

Here's are some of the three school district's corporal punishment guidelines:

• Rapides allows "reasonable corporal punishment of unruly pupils" to be administered "on the buttocks only" with "extreme care, tact and caution."
• Avoyelles Parish's policy permits corporal punishment for K-6 students, but not in grades 7-12. Only the principal or assistant principal may administer corporal punishment, and they must obtain parental consent beforehand.
• Rapides and Vernon guidelines do not explicitly require parents be notified before corporal punishment is administered. Under Vernon Parish guidelines, "parents who do not want their child paddled must submit a written request asking the school not to paddle, so another form of discipline may be used."
• Rapides and Vernon require a witness to be present at the time of discipline.
• All three districts' policies dictate that students must be given an opportunity to explain their side of the story before being punished.

What parents are saying 

Central Louisiana parents for and against corporal punishment said trust — or lack of — is a factor.

"I'm from a tiny town ... so my parents knew the principal and knew if I was getting paddled, I deserved it," Leesville resident Dani Mellendorf said. "I'm for it in smaller towns. Leesville is much too big and there's not really a relationship between principal and parent like there was at my hometown."

"I would have no problem letting select people at my son's school paddle his behind," said Ashley DeKeyzer, of Alexandria. "I think it would straighten him, and others, out if they knew there were real consequences to their actions. Unfortunately, our (private) school does not use this type of punishment."

When he was a child, Shreveport resident Brian Mitchell remembered seeing a paddle at his school. He also got "knuckle treatment" from his teacher, who used a Husky brand pencil on students who misbehaved.

"The fear of the paddle, which took on a legend of its own, kept many of us in line," Mitchell said. "It was an effective way to manage the class to put an end to some disruptive activity. To this I must add, the teachers at that school were superb, and the principal was an extremely kind-hearted man."

"I think, when it comes to children, you have to act within a very short time after the behavior was committed," said DeRidder mom Pamela Markway Sleezer. "Waiting hours later for the child to be at home (when) they've most likely already emotionally and mentally moved on from whatever offense they committed isn't going to have much effect on them. If it warrants it, I'm comfortable with the school carrying out a spanking as punishment."

Legislative attempts to eliminate or change the use of corporal punishment failed in 2009, 2011 and 2013.

A shift toward positive interventions 

Multiple bodies of research indicate that beatings can damage trust between educator and student, make a student more likely to drop out of school and also experience feelings of resentment, anger, helplessness, bitterness or depression, according to a Human Rights Watch report.

"An interesting comparison from the Human Rights (organization) was that children in juvenile detention centers have more protection against this," Tuttle said. "No guard or worker can hit them. So why is this allowed in public schools?"

Dr. Joseph Bocchini, a Shreveport pediatrician and professor and chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at LSU Health Shreveport, said corporal punishment changes immediate behavior by inflicting pain but has no long-term benefits.

"People who have undergone corporal punishment for long periods of time resort to physical control of others. They learn the way to control a situation is to control the person," Bocchini said. "The older a child is, the more likely they are going to respond by using physical force, and there is a great deal of data to support that."

Clint Davis, a marriage and family therapist who works for Family Plus in Shreveport, said hitting children may change their behavior in the moment but does not teach them how to react in socially responsible ways.

"You can’t do that in any other circumstance. You can’t hit your spouse, you can't hit someone at work, and we're trying to prepare kids for the real world," Davis said. "A consequence isn't supposed to change someone's worth, and when you hit someone, it changes their worth."