Physical Punishment in Schools

Do you support physical punishment in schools? Under certain circumstances, I think that it is definitely the best way to get the message across, but giving a teacher such authority as to injure a child could very well result in abuse of this power. A punishment must also correspond to the broken rule; hitting someone because they broke a pencil would not make much sense. I don't think that physical assault should be used in school, but detentions and other methods of punishment are not consistently effective. It is important for children to realize that people must pay for their mistakes--they must clean up after someone else's messes. I think that it would be more appropriate for the child to reconstruct his own crime scene. Knowing what his actions lead others to do would help teach a proper lesson. I suppose this type of punishment might not be considered physical, technically, but it is certainly more physical than writing lines or spending an hour in detention.
I do not thing that physical punishment such as spanking, beating or otherwise hurting a child is acceptable: this would lead to more fear than submission or compliance with school rules. It also seems to me an unnecessarily cruel thing to do; there are certainly better ways to teach children, and hitting someone as a punishment for them getting in a fight isn't going to get you anywhere. 

I do support physical punishment, to an extent, in schools. There is definitely an attitude in many kids that goes a little like this "it doesn't matter how I do in school, the teachers can't affect my home lives and none of it matters". I feel an occasional slap on the back of the hand with a ruler would help change this.
   
    Current punishment methods (detentions, calls home. etc.) just aren't very effective. Many kids don't find the threat to a detention enough to get them to do their homework, or to show up on time. A lot of parents would take a call home and question their son/daughter and believe if they say the classic line "that teacher just doesn't like me".

    However I don't feel that physical punishments should go much further than a slap on the hand with a ruler. Teachers should have to be monitored to make sure that they don't abuse their power. It would be even more efficient if the teachers had a list of set reasons why they could use this method (three times late, or maybe not having their homework at least 3 times a week).

If you are going to implement physical punishment, a slap on the hand with a ruler should be the beginning, not the end. It might sound harsh from our point of view, but kids will adopt the standpoint: "Is that the best you've got?" and will resist the lesson this punishment is trying to teach. Classroom disrespect might be best treated with pain, yes...but it should be harsh enough to actually get the point across, instead of just harboring resentment and a sense of rebellion. If you're going to hit them, hit them hard; physical punishment is supposed to be one of the worst punishments, and having it being mild would not help with classroom discipline.

What would you suggest to implement physical punishment in an effective way, without causing parents to feel concerned/ never want to send their children to public schools again?

If I were to govern a school of my own (which, luckily for the kiddos, I don't), I'm guessing my rules would be something like exactly the following.

Offenses would be sorted into minor, intermediate and major categories. Minor crimes include gum chewing, disrespect, taking advantage of classroom breaks, running late to school, etc.: offenses that, while they do distract from learning and are very much discouraged, do not cause physical or emotional damage to the students. These breaches of school law would not result in physical consequence, but punishment given by a teacher¹. Once an individual has committed three minor offenses, any repeated² minor offense would be qualified as an intermediate rule infraction. Standalone intermediate crimes include cutting class, skipping detention, etc.; things that strongly distract from learning and minimize the amount of education one receives from their schooling. Teachers would also have choice over which punishments were given, but the rules are less strict: minimal physical punishment is allowed (from a slap on the hand with a ruler to one paddle, no more), office detentions may be given, and so on. Two repeated intermediate offenses, and the next offense (whether it be minor or intermediate) is considered a major offense. Standalone major offenses include starting food fights, assault, carrying of a weapon or illegal drug, etc. These offenses would be punishable by multiple office detentions, a maximum of five paddles, suspension, and even expulsion from school, depending upon the infraction.

¹Teacher punishments would have limited customization: no physical consequence is allowed, and only lunch detentions may be passed, but for the most part teachers have free reign over what punishments are enforced.

²To be clear, the offense does have to have been repeated. If one was punished for gum chewing, disrespect, and taking advantage of classroom breaks, only a repeated crime would land them in the intermediate crimes office. If they ran late to school, that would still be treated as a minor offense, while being caught gum chewing, since they had done it before, would be treated as intermediate.

I think that physical punishment would stop repeat infractions. For example, a student chews gum in class everyday because he will only be told to throw it out. If he got slapped, he hopefully wouldn't chew gum again because the consequences are more severe.

What forms of physical punishment do you think are acceptable? I've brainstormed a short list of methods: hitting, kicking, spanking, slapping, paddling, "corner of shame" or dunce hat, slap with a ruler, belting, and pulling hair.
Anything that leaves a permanent mark, breaks bones or draws blood with the first few uses is, in my opinion, unacceptable. Methods such as spanking and paddling would be effective because, although they don't necessarily inflict severe pain, they do create a strong sense of humiliation and submission, which would hopefully be enough to silence the offender once and for all.
Wow, sounds harsh when you put it that way.
The "corner of shame" or dunce hat could be viewed (accurately, I think) as going too far. Isolating a student in this way, markedly recognizing them as stupid or dunce-like, could easily and quickly chip away at their self-esteem, which is something best avoided. Doing this is calling a child unintelligent and punishing them because of it. Students, even the unintelligent ones, are not punished for their IQ but because of their behavior. The two things should not be associated in school,* or they may create mindsets similar to "I am stupid, I must misbehave".
While I do support physical punishment that follows the system I wrote up a few posts back, I think that the most effective form of consequence is to make the child clean up his or her mess. But there are situations that cause harm but produce no mess, and the best resolution in those cases might just be a couple hard spankings.

*They do have some association, but this can be overcome with just a small amount of effort, and would likely cause more harm than good if it was addressed in school.

I agree that drawing blood, breaking bones, or leaving a permanent mark are unacceptable.

Isolating a child by putting them in the corner could be a good punishment if the child won't stop talking to his classmates. The dunce hat is optional. It could be used if the child does something stupid (putting all his books on his head. they fall and go everywhere).

I don't like the idea of pulling hair. It really doesn't work for people with very short hair. I don't like kicking either. Some shoes are harder than others.

I am all for the dunce hat!

Charlock Holmes wrote:Isolating a child by putting them in the corner could be a good punishment if the child won't stop talking to his classmates.  

I agree, though there is always the risk that the student will take advantage of their...er, "time out" and make funny faces or silently make fun of the teacher. It is most likely the class clowns who would get put in the corner, and they would probably find a way to get around that punishment.
I do think it is a good idea, and wouldn't object to it being implemented, but there is always the risk of a kid taking advantage of it. Loopholes should always be avoided when possible.