In a school district in the US state of Missouri, teachers are again allowed to use the "wooden paddle" for corporal punishment. However, the punishment may only be imposed with the consent of the parents. However, some of these are upset.
In the Cassville School District of southern Missouri, corporal punishment is back in schools. The district had abolished caning in 2001, but has now reintroduced it. The Cassville School District has 1,900 students. With the consent of the parents, teachers are now allowed to hit their students' buttocks with the so-called wooden paddle.
According to the Washington Post, the school board had already passed a policy in June that allows the use of physical violence. The use of force must be carried out in the presence of a witness and should be used without "risk of bodily harm or damage". The parents were informed about this at the open day and their consent was recorded on a form.
Some parents are upset about the methods, calling them inappropriate and harmful, according to the Washington Post report. According to the New York Times, school inspector Merlyn Johnson said he acted at the parents' request. They would have called for corporal punishment. He was surprised by the headwind: "There were people who thanked us for it".
Corporal punishment never completely disappeared from American schools. In 1977, the Ingraham v. Wright ruling made corporal punishment constitutional and left it to the states to regulate. Accordingly, this form of punishment is legal in 19 US states - most of which are considered conservative, including Missouri.
Nevertheless, the number of schoolchildren who are physically punished has declined over the past ten years, as reported by the "New York Times". According to the Washington Post, more than 69,000 beatings were carried out at school in the 2017/2018 school year. In Missouri, nearly 2,500 students have been punished in this way.
In Germany there are reports of the reintroduction of caning in schools. Physical discipline was banned in German schools in most federal states in 1973, with Bavaria being the last federal state in 1983. There has been a ban on violence in children in education throughout Germany since the year 2000.
