Beating Students Is Allowed at Some Schools, But Hugging Is Banned at Another?
This is wrong at one school, but hitting kids is right at others?
New Jersey is a long way off from Northern Florida — in more ways than one.
NPR recently reported on how an astonishing 19 states still allow teachers to beat students in school. In Northern Florida, nearly every county reserves the right for teachers to spank kids for egregious transgressions such as tardiness.
At the Matawan-Aberdeen Middle School in New Jersey, it’s probably safe to say there’s no spanking allowed. That’s because they seem to have a problem with any kind of bodily contact. They just banned hugging in school, according to the San Francisco Gate (via Free Range Kids).
The ban came after some “incidents of unsuitable, physical interactions” and the superintendent says it is the school’s responsibility to “teacher children about appropriate interactions.”
So that, of course, begs a question (or a few dozen). Such as, instead of banning hugs after some “unsuitable” interactions, why wouldn’t they just focus more on what is suitable? Shouldn’t kids learn about “good” and “bad” touches? Aren’t hug among the most suitable touches out there? Clearly some aren’t, but why focus on the negative? And how do you reconcile telling kids that, in most situations, hugging is wrong, why some kids who live in other areas are being taught that hitting is OK?
If those aren’t the wackiest, most mind-boggling examples of oxymoronic (emphasis on moron, of course) teaching, then I don’t know what is.
What do you make of a hugging ban?
Photo credit: iStock
This is the message the principal sent to parents according to the second article linked in free range kids: “Hugging can be inappropriate and we want to make sure that there’s no inappropriate physical contact. We certainly do not have a policy against hugging nor do we intend to or have we suspended students for hugging”
So it sounds like hugging was not banned, that was just a quote from one of the kids. However, it sounds like the actual rule is vague enough to be both useless and destructive.
National Protest Against School Corporal Punishment will be held at TN State Capitol in Nashville Thursday, April 5, 2012 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. to Demand Governor Haslam and TN lawmakers Abolish Paddling (Sexual Assault when done to a non-consenting adult)/Pain to Punish Tennessee students K-12, already Illegal in Nashville Schools and Schools in 31 U.S. States. Search “A Violent Education” for disturbing facts including graphic descriptions of injuries to students, “Teacher Immunity Laws” and No Legal Redress, even the U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear school corporal punishment appeals! Support Federal Bill H.R. 3027 “The Ending Corporal Punishment in Schools Act” , languishing in U.S. Congress NOW, at donthitstudents dot com See Facebook page for Abolish School Corporal Punishment for more info.
2/3 of Tennessee Students attend “Paddling Schools”, Prohibited in Nashville Schools and Schools in 31 U.S. States! My 3 children, who we don’t hit, are forced to overhear the blows as their middle school teachers hit classmates just outside class in halls as a knee-jerk reaction to horsing around or not turning in homework, without parental consent or notification, not required per TN State law, then the beaten student is further humiliated when they immediately return to their seat! Our local school board members ignored our written/verbal presentation during their meeting in April 2008, during “National Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness Month” to Demand they Prohibit Physical Punishment of Students, we received no letter, no phone call. Federal and State government officials informed us that school corporal punishment is a “Local Issue”!
2/3 of Tennessee Students attend “Paddling Schools”, Prohibited in Nashville Schools and Schools in 31 U.S. States! My 3 children, who we don’t hit, are forced to overhear the blows as their middle school teachers hit classmates just outside class in halls as a knee-jerk reaction to horsing around or not turning in homework, without parental consent or notification, not required per TN State law, then the beaten student is further humiliated when they immediately return to their seat! Our local school board members ignored our written/verbal presentation during their meeting in April 2008, during “National Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness Month” to Demand they Prohibit Physical Punishment of Students, we received no letter, no phone call. Federal and State government officials informed us that school corporal punishment is a “Local Issue”!
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