A short news item from Texas makes interesting viewing in New Zealand where it has been illegal to hit children in schools for 20 years. In the interview, a child advocate argues against the use of physical punishment as colleagues seek to make physical punishment of children illegal in schools in Texas.
The advocate argues that hitting children teaches them to hit, is ineffective as a method of teaching children to behave well and is a cruel and degrading form of punishment. Although use of physical punishment of children is now illegal in 30 states in the USA, it is still legal in homes in all states.
The most chilling aspect of this video is the nature of the instrument used to punish children in schools. It is illustrated in the video. The paddle, as it is called, looks like a cricket bat and is said to cause injuries to the recipients of a “paddling”. The underpinning belief that violence is effective in socializing children appears to reflect a legitimization of violence, a lack of understanding of child development and perhaps a belief that children are innately bad and that painful punishment is going to rid the child of his or her evil ways. There is no guidance or positive role modeling at all in this approach to discipline.
