Status: 09/04/2022 10:14 a.m
Caning is generally legal in several US states. After 21 years of abstinence, it is now being reintroduced in a school district in Missouri – also at the request of some parents.
It is the latest example of a return to arch-conservative methods in parts of the US, particularly in schools. But this step is particularly controversial – even where Donald Trump’s Republicans dominate.
The small town of Cassville is located deep in the Midwest, in the state of Missouri. Ever since caning was reinstated here in principle, school board director Merlyn Johnson has had to justify himself. He stressed on local TV that beatings are the last resort and only if parents give permission:
This is only an option if the parents have given their express consent. If you don’t want corporal punishment for your child, you don’t agree.
Parents also demanded corporal punishment
Why the return to caning, now of all times? Because in recent years more and more students have had to be expelled from class for lack of discipline, Johnson said:
It was one of several suggestions, including from parents, to prevent expulsion from classes: corporal punishment.
It’s about hitting children’s buttocks with a wooden paddle. A discipline method that has a long tradition in the USA, but which many parents tend to attribute to the middle of the last century.
Also from Miranda Waltrip, mother of three in Cassville: “I don’t think that’s appropriate,” she says. “Many children here come from poorer backgrounds, with parents who do not take care of themselves. It would be better to offer advice and care. For some, beating may be a return to the good old days. But no, it will do more harm than good .”
Dylan Burns, whose children also go to school in Cassville, thinks the approach is the right one: “Whatever you decide, you should discuss it with your family. Let’s trust teachers and school authorities. They won’t do anything to the children that we do don’t want as parents.”
Caning compatible with the Constitution
The US Supreme Court ruled in 1977 that caning in schools is consistent with the Constitution. The decision rests with the individual states. Corporal punishment is generally permitted in schools in 19 states.
In Texas, for example, the application is now being hotly debated again, and in some cases by members of President Joe Biden’s Democratic Party. Ron Reynolds is a Democratic representative in the Texas House of Representatives. “I think we have to apply that,” he says.
We need prayer in school. And we need corporal punishment.
The teacher Arnetta Murray, who is also involved in school politics in Texas, scolds: “You want me to use punches, you want me to carry a gun, you want me to teach. I can’t do it all together! ” She herself has four sons and a daughter.
We need to get back to the heart of the problem: parental responsibility. The problem is the parents.
As with many issues in the United States at the moment, the debate is fierce, loud – and divided.
Caning in schools in the United States
Ralf Borchard, ARD Washington, 9/4/2022 9:37 a.m