Paddling partisans weigh in

I've been writing this column for nearly nine years, so you'd think I'd know what to expect when writing about a hair-trigger issue such as corporal punishment.

But even I was surprised at the tide of e-mail and phone calls following my Wednesday column.

If I had to put a number on it, I'd say 95 percent of readers who contacted me believe it's not only fine for kids to be paddled or otherwise beaten in the schools -- it's desirable.

The column focused on the story of a 12-year-old boy from McDowell County in the western part of the state who was paddled so severely his rear end was a patchwork of red welts and purple bruises. All for the crime of telling a classmate to shut up.

As it turns out, people are much more concerned about a Highway Patrol officer's mistreatment of a powerful dog trained to maim and kill on command than a teacher's mistreatment of a 12-year-old boy.

Josh Smith summed up the position neatly: "I think that what is wrong with kids today is that there isn't enough spanking going on in the first place. If we keep letting kids get away with what they are getting away with, without tearing up their backsides, you will surely have plenty more news articles to write about in the future."

Many readers fondly remember beatings they received as children, crediting their sore backsides -- not the strong values instilled by family, church or community -- with keeping them from a life of crime. A paddle, with holes drilled in to pack extra punch -- now that's what set them straight.

Paul Strand recalled that when he was growing up, he was the worst kid in his school.

"I constantly acted up, said bad words, got in arguments, wanted attention, I guess," he wrote. "I was a good kid at heart, but sometimes I crossed the line.

"What happened? I got the strap twice -- once in grade 4 and once in grade 6. Best thing that ever happened to me. Sure I cried. I remember in grade 4 I screamed like a little baby. In grade 6, I thought I was tougher so I never let out a peep, but I still had a tear in my eye."

Funny, my brother Tim doesn't remember the swats from the nuns quite so warmly.

Strand noted that his parents followed up with more punishment at home.

"They never went on the Doctor Phil show and cried," he wrote.

Many readers lumped me, and the mothers I wrote about, in the group of parents who believe their children can do no wrong.

Ha. As the mother of three boys, I tend to believe they are guilty as charged. And I'm usually right.

But there's a difference between supporting teachers and letting them beat the tar out of your kids.

Mimi McKinney offered one of the few voices I could relate to in this debate: "Spanking tells a child it is okay to hit someone."

She noted that she helped lobby for a ban on corporal punishment way back in the '70s -- to no avail. Last session, the legislature defeated the ban again -- on the very same night it strengthened laws against school bullying. I guess when it comes from a teacher it's OK.

McKinney wrote: "It's embarrassing to know that the county in which I was born still allows this to happen. Shame on McDowell and any other county with the same mind-set."

Amazingly, there are still a few Triangle counties that allow corporal punishment, too. To them, I say, reform. To McKinney I say, touche.