Spanked at School!

Book excerpt: School corporal punishment is currently legal in 19 states, and over 160,000 children in these states are subject to corporal punishment in schools each year. (Corporal Punishment in U.S. Public Schools: Prevalence, Disparities in Use, and Status in State and Federal Policy by Elizabeth T. Gershoff and Sarah A. Font)Our survey was begun in 2009 and continues through today. It is not a scientific survey, but is intended to give people an opportunity to respond to questions about their experiences. These are the questions that were asked in the survey:1.How old are you now?2.Are you male or female?3.What country did you grow up in?4.If you grew up in the United States, what states did you live in when you were going to school?5.Did you wear a uniform to school?6.Did you go to a public or private school?7.What grades were you spanked at school and what were you spanked with?8.Who spanked you at school?9.What was the gender of the person that spanked you?10.How were you positioned for the spanking?11.How soon after the offense were you spanked?12.Where were you spanked?13.How many swats were you given? If you received more than one spanking at school, please tell how many swats you received each time and what you were spanked with.14.If there was a witness present, who was it?15.If your parents were informed, how was that done?16.How was your spanking administered?17.If it was done on your bare bottom did you know it would be done that way?18.If it was done on your bare bottom, how were you told that it would be done that way?19.If you were spanked on your bare bottom, how were you prepared for that?20.Please take a moment and tell us about your most memorable school spanking and why you were punished.At the time of this writing, there were 585 responses. We have included charts documenting the answers provided. While many respondents didn't provide much information on Question 20, those responses that were interesting are included in this book, including their responses to all questions. Much of the data is not surprising. Most of the students receiving corporal punishment were males. Most of the students were from the southern United States. While public schools in the south still use corporal punishment, many states have outlawed it in public schools. Private religious schools seem to use it with more consistency and severity.Students in elementary school were usually spanked over the knee with the hand by the teacher, right after the offense. Older students were spanked in a more traditional manner with a paddle or cane, bending over. These were usually done by a principal or headmaster, often after school.Witnesses were often present, but not always, and to our surprise, parents weren't always informed. We were very surprised that a number of respondents claimed that corporal punishment was administered to their bare bottoms.