After reading that over half the counties in the state allow spankings, I felt there may be a glimmer of hope for some of our schools. A student got a spanking but, according to Sheehan, the student was accosted by his 300-plus-pound teacher. The student's backside was a crazy quilt of bruises and raised red welts, according to the column. The student's mother rushed him to the emergency room, called the sheriff's office and county social workers to report her son's injuries.

I am not sure whether spankings would even work on many of the students in today's schools, but it sure worked 25 years ago when I was in school. Many of the kids who are in our school systems have no manners, discipline or respect for themselves, much less others. You can't blame the kids because their parents, or lack thereof, allow them to do anything they want without any consequences.

Discipline is something that we need to get back into our schools because, as we all know, the children are our future, and that is scary.

Philip Starr

Smithfield