Utterly Meaningless » Blog Archive » LETTER OF THE DAY

    • LETTER OF THE DAY

    Filed at 6:11 am under by dcobranchi

    For Carlotta:

    Demand an end to abuse in schools

    Last month a Durham woman used a belt to discipline her children, and she left marks on her 3-year-old. After a day-care worker reported this to authorities, the woman was charged with three counts of felony child abuse and jailed under a $90,000 bond.

    In contrast, a Robeson County teacher struck a child five times with a wooden plank with holes drilled in it, and the child’s buttocks were covered in bruises. This teacher is still teaching.

    Colin Armstrong, the superintendent, said that a list of offenses that could lead to the use of corporal punishment was given to principals, and that could minimize the liability of hitting children.

    If a mother posts a list of reasons that she will belt her child, and the child breaks a rule, does that justify child abuse?

    When a child is hit and bruised by an adult wielding a belt, a paddle, a tree limb or a fist, it is child abuse. It is child abuse in the living rooms of our homes, and it is child abuse in the halls of our schools.

    It is time for parents to demand an end to school-sanctioned child abuse in North Carolina schools.

    To see the types of injuries that I am referring to, or for contact information to help with ending the abuse, go to www.nospank.net/bancp-nc.htm.

    The pictures speak 1,000 words, I am limited to 250.

    Peggy Dean
    Board of Directors, Parents and Teachers Against Violence in Education
    Waxhaw

    4 comments »

    4 Responses to “LETTER OF THE DAY”


    Comment by
    Carlotta
    March 13th, 2006
    at 12:03 pm

    Jailing under a $90,000 bond seems just about right, I’d say. It would be great if the other states could catch up soon! If Project No Spank (nospank.net) has it right, it seems there are some 20 odd states that permit beating with paddles, in schools as well as in the home.

    Comment by
    sam
    March 13th, 2006
    at 12:45 pm

    As bad as the abuse is when the child is being hurt, I wish more people could see the longer term affects. I was paddled in school and spanked at home very many times. I carried this with me into my own adulthood thinking that these things were okay. I’ve had to work to stop spanking my kids, and I’m glad every day for the work I’ve done.
    I still have problems facing my past and how it affects me today. I still have problems facing what was done to me and seeing it for what it was. I feel I’m in pretty good place concerning this, but I know that I’m one of the lucky ones.
    The damage goes beyond the actual spanking and does more damage than just the bruises. The lessons intended by the spankings are not the lessons we end up teaching.
    I hope I haven’t demeaned the pain these children suffer, but people have to know that the pain doesn’t stop when the bruises go away, and the real bruises are on the inside where we can’t see.

    Comment by
    speedwell
    March 13th, 2006
    at 3:52 pm

    Hooray PTAVE!! I knew one of the Texas directors, before he retired. It’s a good group.

    Comment by
    Jeanne
    March 13th, 2006
    at 5:13 pm

    My son marvels that if he hit a teacher, it would be an assault, but if teacher hits him, as is legal in Mississippi, it is considered discipline.

    I think that one of the problems with the spanking debate is the idea that there are only two routes to go – the spanking route or the permissive route. Our kids would be the first to say that their non-spanking parents are NOT permissive.