Ohio could become the twenty-ninth state to ban corporal punishment at school. State Representative Brian Williams and Terry Leeth, assistant chief of western local schools in Pike County, are on opposite sides of the debt. Williams, D-Akron and Rep. John Peterson, R-Delaware, introduced House Bill 406 to ban corporal punishment in schools. Gow Ted Strickland supports and will sign such legislation, spokesman Keith Diley said.
Congressman Williams, the former superintendent of Acron’s public schools, believes rowing is an “outdated way to change behavior” that needs to be abolished in schools. Last year, the most local rowers in ninety-nine (99) were reported in Western local schools in Pike County. Corporal punishment was used in seventeen (17) of 614 Ohio school districts. 270 students received 453 sticks.
Corporal punishment of children in school is legal in twenty-two states, and “reasonable” corporal punishment of children by their parents / guardians are legal in each state, with the exception of Minnesota (Bitensky, 1998). The prohibition of corporal punishment in family day care, group homes / institutions, childcare facilities, and family education depends on state laws (EPOCH-USA, 1999b).
Twenty-two states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Wyoming.
American laws and cultural values explicitly concern adults who physically strike or verbally threaten adults. Such behavior is recognized as criminal, and we bring the perpetrators to justice. Why, then, when so many people are at stake, do we accept the physical attack of children? The answer is not complicated. We cannot have sympathy for children until we can honestly admit the abuse of our own children's experiences and examine the shortcomings of our own parents. To the extent that we are forced to protect our parents and protect their secrets, we will do the same for others. We indulge in corporal punishment and look the other way. By constantly ensuring that we are “good”, we calm ourselves down and distract our attention from deeply hidden hidden memories.
The effects of corporal punishment are well described in studies such as:
o Dr. Frank Putnam from the National Institute of Mental Health and Dr. Martin Teyher from Harvard Medical School studied 170 girls, 6–15-year-old experienced corporal punishment, and half did not for seven years. Girls who practiced corporal punishment had symptoms such as abnormally high stress hormones that can kill neurons in areas of the brain that are critical for thinking and memory, and high levels of antibodies that weaken the immune system.
o Teicher completed a series of brain studies in 402 children and adults, many of whom have experienced corporate punishment. His findings showed that corporal punishment creates retarded growth of the left hemisphere of the brain, which can impede the development of language and logic and slow the growth of the right hemisphere of the brain at an abnormally early age.
AMA and APA ignore these studies. Why do AMA and APA ignore these studies and other well-known researchers? work, for example: Judith Herman, MD? The answer lies in the theory of negation - if we do not believe in it, it cannot harm us. The irony is that “facts do not cease to exist, because they are ignored,” and tragic results follow.
Tragic results:
o Children who use corporal punishment for parents to correct unacceptable behavior show more antisocial behavior over a long period of time, regardless of race and socioeconomic status, and regardless of whether the mother provides cognitive stimulation and emotional support (Gunnoe & Mariner, 1997; Kazdin, 1987, Patterson, DeBaryshe, & Ramsey, 1989; Straus, Sugarman, & Giles-Sims, 1997).
o Adults who have suffered as children are more likely to be depressed or violent (Berkowitz, 1993; Strassberg, Dodge, Pettit, & Bates, 1994; Straus, 1994; Straus & Gelles, 1990; Straus & Kantor, 1992).
(Straus, 1991; Straus, 1994; Straus & Gelles, 1990; p. Straus & Kantor, 1992; Widom, 1989; Wolfe, 1987).
o Corporal punishment increases the likelihood that children will attack the parent in response when they get older (Brezina, 1998).
o Corporal punishment sends the message that violence is a viable solution to problems (Straus, Gelles, & Steinmetz, 1980; Straus, Sugarman, & Giles-Sims, 1997).
o Corporal punishment humiliates, invests in a sense of helplessness and humiliation, deprives a child of self-worth and self-worth and can lead to seizure, aggression, mental and physical dysfunction (Sternberg et al., 1993; Straus, 1994)
o Corporal punishment destroys trust between parent and child and increases the risk of child abuse; as a limitation of discipline, it simply does not reduce the aggressive or delinquent behavior of children (Straus, 1994).
o Children who are regularly spanked are more likely to deceive or lie, be naughty at school, bully others and show less remorse for wrongdoing (Straus, Sugarman, & Giles-Sims, 1997).
o Corporal punishment adversely affects the cognitive development of children. Children who have spanked do not do well at school compared to other children (Straus & Mathur, 1995; Straus & Paschall, 1998).
Sources:
Berkowitz, L. (1993). Aggression: its causes, consequences and control. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Bitensky, SH (1998). Stock bar, an embargo on our humanity: to a new legal regime prohibiting corporal punishment of children. University of Michigan Law Reform Journal, 31 (2), 354-391. Brezina T. (1998). Adolescent violence as an adaptation to family stress: an empirical study. Manuscript submitted for publication.
