Senate Showdown On School Spanking -- Bill Would Make State The 23Rd To Ban Corporal Punishment
Educators and parents have gotten further than ever before in their effort to make Washington the 23rd state to ban spanking in schools. The Senate was scheduled to vote on their bill today.
The state Parent-Teacher Association and other community groups have spent nine years trying to change the disciplinary methods in public schools but have been frustrated by politicians who approve of spanking and want to maintain local control.
The bill has passed the House three years in a row but has never faced a Senate vote.
"The school . . . should be a safe haven for children. Hitting is a punishment; it is not education," said Jim Carpenter, president of the state PTA.
"There are some issues that are so important that they transcend local control," he added.
The bill's advocates say guidelines cannot prevent abuse, and physical punishment teaches the lesson that hitting is OK.
Washington state law specifies that spankings must be witnessed by another school employee and must be reasonable and moderate.
Proponents point to the bans on physical punishment in the armed forces and prisons as proof that corporal punishment is bad and unnecessary.
They suggest that schools use techniques such as conflict management and behavior modification to teach problem-solving skills.
"Power is not really controlling others. It's learning how to control yourself," said Walter Pfahl, executive director of the Child Abuse Prevention Association of Washington.
Senator Jack Metcalf, R-Langley, argued that despite the risks, sometimes corporal punishment is the most effective way to discipline a child.
"When the time is right it's the easiest, quickest method" and a deterrent, Metcalf said.
Critics of the bill said the state has no business telling local school districts how to discipline their students.
Most King County school districts, including Seattle, already ban corporal punishment.
The Seattle school board decided in 1985 that spanking was not a good way to teach conflict resolution.
The Auburn School District is one of few in King County that allow corporal punishment. Superintendent Jim Fugate calls it a "kinesthetic approach to bringing the point across to the person."
The Snoqualmie School Board will adopt a new policy March 26 to reflect its longstanding practice of not using corporal punishment.
"Corporal punishment was not viewed as having any efficacy," said Superintendent Rich McCullough.
The U.S. Department of Education reported in a 1991 study that only 739 Washington students - one in a thousand - were subjected to corporal punishment that year.