Guest Blog: An Open Letter to Arkansas Educators

ByDorothy M. Neddermeyer Ph.D.

Corporal punishment typically involves being battered on the buttocks with a wooden board. The risks are obvious. No standards govern the practice, and there is no way to determine if some invisible line has been crossed until after the act. No teachers’ college in Arkansas instructs undergraduates in the correct method for hitting people. For your information, I have enclosed a page of photos showing injuries to students that have resulted from school corporal punishment. It can be viewed online at www.nospank.net/injuredkids.pdf.

Guest Blog: OUR VIEW: End paddling in schools

ByDorothy M. Neddermeyer Ph.D.

Paddling doesn’t teach a child anything except how to use force to get your way. That’s the exact wrong message to send to our students, who should be encouraged to control their emotions and use their brains to get past challenges. Worst of all is the bizarre twist of paddling students not just for misbehavior but for bad grades. What if a student has a learning disability or simply can’t grasp a difficult subject? Paddling in public schools is simply wrong. It needs to end now, not later.