107 ORGANIZATIONS CALL FOR AN END TO CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IN THE SCHOOLS OF THE UNITED STATES
Dear Mr. President:
Throughout the developed, industrial world, and in many developing
nations, the use of
corporal punishment against schoolchildren is forbidden. No
European country permits the
practice.
While the consensus of informed opinion in the United States
concurs with informed
opinion worldwide on this subject, our practices do not. There is a
great gulf between
what we know to be correct treatment of schoolchildren and our
schools' actual practices.
According to the best available statistics, more than one million
incidents of corporal
punishment occur in our schools annually. No credible argument has
been raised that
anything other than harm is achieved by these acts.
Pediatrician and Clinical Professor of Pediatric Medicine at Yale
University School of
Medicine, Dr. Morris Wessel has written: "Beaten and battered
children are more likely to
become adults who have inadequate control of their aggressive
feelings, who therefore
strike out mercilessly against children, spouses, friends and
sometimes even other
members of society. The violence inflicted on children by their
closest relatives and
caretakers has a long-lasting and horrifying effect. These children
grow up with the idea
that, when another person's behavior is displeasing to them,
violent acts against that
person are appropriate ways to deal with feelings of displeasure.
In short, members of
each adult generation tend to reproduce in their interpersonal
relationships the violence
which they experienced in their childhood."
The noted anthropologist, Ashley Montagu has written: "Any form of
corporal punishment
or 'spanking' is a violent attack upon another human being's
integrity. The effect remains
with the victim forever and becomes an unforgiving part of his or
her personality - a
massive frustration resulting in hostility which will seek
expression in later life in violent
acts towards others. The sooner we understand that love and
gentleness are the only
kinds of called-for behavior towards children, the better. The
child, especially, learns to
become the kind of human being that he or she has experienced. This
should be fully
understood by all caregivers."
The distinguished Harvard psychologist, B.F. Skinner has written:
"Punitive measures
whether administered by police, teachers, spouses or parents have
well-known standard effects:
- escape - education has its own name for that: truancy
- counterattack -
vandalism on schools and attacks on teachers, (3) apathy - a sullen
do-nothing
withdrawal. The more violent the punishment, the more serious the
by-products."
Because of government's symbolic importance in influencing the
behavior of private
citizens, it should set the highest possible standard for the care
of children in its charge.
The legal right of school personnel to beat schoolchildren sends a
message to child
abusers in the community that their behavior is acceptable. It
demonstrates to children
that violence is an appropriate way to express disapproval or
discharge anger.
Furthermore, corporal punishment in schools degrades the teaching
profession. It
contributes to an atmosphere of confrontation in schools that
demoralizes many of our
most capable teachers and forces them to abandon their calling. It
infuses many
schoolchildren with hostility towards formal learning as evidenced
by poor academic
performance and dropout.
There is no restriction on government power more important in
distinguishing our
constitutional democracy from tyranny than that which forbids the
agents of civil authority
to inflict battery as a routine administrative procedure. This
protection has been gained by
agricultural workers, factory workers, military recruits,
apprentices, domestic servants,
psychiatric patients, convicts, suspects under interrogation,
women, the developmentally
handicapped, persons of color, the elderly, homosexuals - by every
group except one.
Schoolchildren should be granted the same legal protection against
battery that is enjoyed
by every other class of citizen. Without this, all other
educational reforms are hollow. For
surely we will fail to foster in future citizens a respect for the
rights of others if, in their
formative years, we permit their rights to be trampled.
Mr. President, you have committed yourself to genuine educational
reform. We, the
undersigned, urge you to fulfill that commitment by taking a
leadership role in assuring the
right of every child to be safe from corporal punishment at school.
We urge you to
instruct the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education to take
expeditious and
forceful action to deny federal assistance to any school, school
district or other
educational entity that authorizes the use of corporal punishment.
SIGNATORIES:
National Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse
American Academy of Pediatrics
Children's National Medical Center
American Association of Retired Persons
National Congress of Parents and Teachers Association
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
National Mental Health Association
American Psychological Association
The Menninger Foundation
The National Exchange Club Foundation for the Prevention of Child
Abuse
Parents Anonymous, Inc.
Association for Childhood Education International
CHILDHELP USA
National Council on Crime and Delinquency
National Association of Counsel for Children
National Parent Aide Association, Inc.
American Association of Physicians for Human Rights
Parent Effectiveness Training
EPOCH - USA (End Physical Punishment of Children)
National Association of School Psychologists
National Council of Teachers of English
American School Counselor Association
National Committee for Rights of the Child
Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, Inc.
Jefferson County (Alabama) Child Development Council, Inc.
California Association for Health, Physical Education,
Recreation and Dance
California Professional Society on the Abuse of Children
Greater Chicago Council for Prevention of Child Abuse
Coordinating Council for Children in Crisis, Inc. (A Connecticut
organization)
Coalition for Children (A Connecticut organization)
Agenda for Children (An advocacy organization in Louisiana)
Massachusetts Committee for Children and Youth
Voices for Children in Nebraska
The Child Assault Prevention Project of Washoe County ( A Nevada
organization)
Child Abuse Prevention Committee of Greater Philadelphia
West Virginia Child Care Association
Northern Tier Youth Services of West Virginia
National Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse chapters in:
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona,
California, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida,
Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois,
Indiana, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland,
Michigan, Minnesota,
Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New
York, North
Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode
Island, South
Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia,
Washington, Wisconsin,
Wyoming
Mental Health Association chapters in: Illinois, Florida, Kentucky,
Louisiana, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Texas, West Virginia
Parents Anonymous chapters in: Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Florida,
Georgia, Kansas,
Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Montana, Nevada, Vermont, Virginia,
Wisconsin, Wyoming
Tennesseans for Nonviolent School Discipline
Notice to readers: You are invited to print the above letter, add
your name and invite
friends, colleagues and organizations with which you are associated
to add theirs. Then
mail to: The President, The White House, Washington, DC 20500.