孩子太熊，美国学校恢复“木槌打屁股”体罚政策：家长强烈要求的！
英国那些事儿 2022年08月25日
美国卡斯维尔学校的孩子们，最近估计要气晕过去了，学校表示，“应家长强烈要求”，要恢复20年前的体罚政策：用棒槌打屁股！
卡斯维尔是密苏里州一个不到4000人的小镇，靠近阿肯色州边境。2001年，为了顺应美国去体罚化的趋势，巴里县学区禁止所有学校体罚，保住了1900个学生的屁股和手心。卡斯维尔的小学、初中和高中都不允许打学生，校长办公室里鬼哭狼嚎的声音少了很多。
在当时看来，这个禁令是进步的，是为学生们着想，但有些家长们表示无法理解……“你们怎么可以不体罚孩子呢？这怎么管得住他们？！”
学区负责人默林·约翰逊（Merlyn Johnson）说，卡斯维尔是一个非常保守的社区，自从他上台后，就不停听到家长们的抱怨。“家长们总问，‘你们为什么不打我家孩子了？’ 我们说，‘我们不能打，因为政策不允许。’ ”“我们和家长做了很多交谈，但还是不停收到家长让我们体罚的请求。”
家长想体罚的原因很简单：他们相信用棍棒才能教会孩子规矩，家里教了，学校不教，效果不会好。和大部分人认知里的不同，美国虽然在保护儿童上很严格，但并不禁止公立学校打学生。自第一所学校在这片陆地上建立起来，体罚就没有停止。
大多数时候，老师们是把学生按在桌上打屁股，用的惩戒教具都形成了统一，是一种长得很像国内洗衣棒的板子。1977年，有人开始质疑这么做合不合理。那人就是被打得屁股开花的14岁少年，詹姆斯·英格拉汉姆（James Ingraham）。因为没有按要求及时离开学校礼堂的舞台，老师把英格拉汉姆逮到校长办公室，要求校长惩戒他。
校长让他弯腰趴下，男孩死都不肯，最后被老师们面朝下按在桌子上，校长用棒槌狠狠打了他20下。那次体罚非常严重，英格拉汉姆在家躺了足足11天。他和父母指控学校实施“残忍和不寻常的惩罚”，上诉到佛罗里达州法院，最后一路起诉到最高法院。然而，最高法院并不帮他们。判决明确地指出，学校体罚没有违宪，除非这些惩罚是“有辱人格或特别恶劣的”。不过，学校体罚是否合理，要由各州决定。
最高法院把体罚权下放到各州，由州政府考虑它是否合法。之后几十年，越来越多州明令禁止学校体罚，但保守的美国南方仍有19个州允许体罚，包括密苏里州、肯塔基州、田纳西州等。和禁止体罚的州相比，允许体罚的州在总人口的儿童比例上更高，仅2013到2014学年，全美就有10.6万名儿童在公立学校受到体罚。
这样的氛围下，卡斯维尔的家长们想要恢复体罚也就不奇怪了，他们觉得，老师打孩子很正常。
学区负责人默林·约翰逊做了三场匿名调查，询问老师、家长和学生，对学校最大的担忧是什么。
他们都回答是学生糟糕的行为和纪律管理。
“于是，我们开始思考能做什么。体罚是其中一个手段。” 约翰逊说。很多人（肯定不包括学生）提到“老式纪律管理”，也就是打屁股。他们说这是最有效直接的手段，只要学校肯实施，校园风气立刻会变好。于是，今年6月份，卡斯维尔学校董事会批准新政，推翻之前的禁令，允许学校使用体罚。
不过，打孩子也不是乱打，是要有讲究的。政策限制了体罚工具，必须是光滑的木质棒槌。它的长度有小臂长，厚度两三厘米，不能太重，上面也不能装别的东西。打学生只能打屁股，绝对不能打头和脸。低年级的学生打一两下，高年级的学生最多打三下。
“体罚学生必须由校长执行，而且现场只能有一个目击者。” 政策写道，“不允许在有其他学生的地方体罚。”“体罚必须是在其他惩罚手段都无效后才做的，体罚不应造成身体伤害。严禁打学生的头或脸。”约翰逊说，他们已经向家长发出文件，只有得到他们的书面许可后，才能把孩子列入“可体罚名单”。
如果他们尝试了体罚后，感觉不太好，每个家庭可以自由地退出。“我们尊重每一个家长的决定，不管是加入还是退出。” 约翰逊告诉媒体。“很多家长都感谢我们的这项政策。也许社交媒体上的人听说我们有体罚政策，会感到震惊，但我遇到的大部分人都非常支持。”除了体罚孩子外，约翰逊还打算建立“成功学院”，帮助不适应学校环境的学生。他们还施行了一项反对手机和上网设备的政策，让学生专注学习。总之，这所学校会变得越来越传统，就像几十年前那样。
卡斯维尔学校的体罚政策上新闻后，美国网友们纷纷吐槽，体罚根本就是虐待儿童。“如果他们敢碰我的孩子一根手指，我就起诉他们虐待。”“ ‘有很多家长感谢我们。’ 这种话通常都是正在经历认知失调的人说出来的，因为他们知道自己站在错误的那一边。”“我妈曾经就收到过那样的文件，她高高兴兴地签下同意书，允许老师体罚我。幸运的是，我的学校最后没打一个孩子。现在，我不怎么跟我妈说话了。”
“学校这是告诉学生，问题可以通过打人来解决。嗯，没错，未来这个地方的暴力肯定会变少的啦。”得克萨斯大学的人类学教授伊丽莎白·基瑟夫（Elizabeth Gershoff）在2016年研究过美国公立学校的体罚现状。结果发现，不管是短期内教会学生规矩，还是长期内改变他们的道德行为，体罚都完全没有效果。它还会起到反作用，被体罚的学生会表现出更多攻击性，更频繁地违纪，可能是为了报复老师。被体罚过的学生，会有更多的心理问题，更差的亲子关系，更糟糕的学习成绩。学生就此进入恶性循环，出格的行为越来越多。
为了保护人的尊严和肉体，美国军事训练中心、美国监狱、儿童保育中心、少年拘留所都是禁止体罚的，唯一一个允许体罚的机构，竟然是公立学校。这听上去有些荒唐，但又情有可原。
多年来，未成年学生被当作不完全的人，可以打屁股训诫，到现在更人性化的社会，这种思维惯性仍然没有停止。卡斯维尔学校的学生们算是倒霉了。
不知道未来，会不会有人再次上告最高法院，控诉体罚不合理呢？
Missouri school district reinstates spanking as punishment: 'We've had people actually thank us'
Claudette Riley Springfield News-LeaderCassville School School District superintendent Merlyn Johnson said he did not take the job a year ago with a plan to reinstate corporal punishment – a disciplinary measure the 1,900-student Barry County district abandoned in 2001.
"But it is something that has happened on my watch and I'm OK with it," Johnson said.
Cassville is a small town with a population just under 4,000 people about 60 miles southwest of Springfield, near the Arkansas border.
Parents were recently notified of a policy approved in June by the school board to once again allow spanking in school – but only as a last resort and with written permission from parents.
Each family will be asked to opt in or out.
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'Majority of people that I've run into have been supportive'
Describing Cassville as a "very traditional community in southwest Missouri," Johnson said parents have long expressed frustration that corporal punishment was not allowed in the district.
"Parents have said 'why can't you paddle my student?' and we're like 'We can't paddle your student, our policy does not support that,'" he said. "There had been conversation with parents, and there had been requests from parents for us to look into it."
Johnson said families in Cassville have reacted differently from others on social media from outside the area.
"We've had people actually thank us for it," he said. "Surprisingly, those on social media would probably be appalled to hear us say these things, but the majority of people that I've run into have been supportive."
He added: "We respect the decision of every parent, whatever decision they make."
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Is corporal punishment legal?
In 1977, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled school corporal punishment was constitutional, which left the decision to permit it up to each state.
Missouri is one of the 19 states, most of them in the South, where corporal punishment is still allowed. Adjacent states that allow it are Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Oklahoma. Others are Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Wyoming.
The road to corporal punishment in Cassville started with an anonymous third-party survey of school employees, parents and students.
All three groups identified student behavior and discipline issues as a high concern.
"We started generating ideas on what we could do and corporal punishment was one of the ideas," he said.
Johnson said that to his surprise, there was more interest than expected in what he called an "old-fashioned disciplinary measure."
The district investigated that option along with two others, which were also implemented: the creation of a Success Academy for students who struggle in a traditional setting and a restriction on cellphones and other internet-ready devices at school.
Corporal punishment policy includes paddle spanking
In June, the Cassville school board approved a policy that allows the use of corporal punishment but only "when all other alternative means of discipline have failed and then only in reasonable form and upon the recommendation of the principal."
Johnson said it will be administered only by a principal, in the presence of a witness and never inflicted in the presence of other students.
The policy states: "When it becomes necessary to use corporal punishment, it shall be administered so that there can be no chance of bodily injury or harm. Striking a student on the head or face is not permitted."
The only corporal punishment allowed is "swatting the buttocks with a paddle."
Asked how many swings are allowed, Johnson said only one and possibly two for the younger students and up to three for the older students.
The policy also requires the principal who approved the corporal punishment to report the reason and details to the superintendent.
"No one is jumping up and down saying we want to do this because we like to paddle kids. That is not the reason that we would want to do this," Johnson said.
But, he said, students respond in different ways to discipline.
Johnson said the district employs a wide range of disciplinary approaches starting with relationship-building and positive reinforcement for good behavior. Detention and in-school and out-of-school suspensions are also options.
"The positive reinforcement, we love it. That works with a lot of kids," he said. "However, some kids play the game and their behaviors aren't changing."
He said the district hopes the possibility of corporal punishment is a deterrent.
"We understand that it is a bit of a shock factor," he said. "So if there is one kid or a few kids out there that know...there might be a different type of discipline, it might change their behavior."
At the end of the 2022-23 year, Johnson and his administrative team plan to look at what influence corporal punishment, the Success Academy and the cellphone restriction had on reducing student discipline.
"We go back to the drawing board every year and look at what our needs are and reassess and come back with something different, maybe, next year," he said.
Contributing: Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY
Claudette Riley is the education reporter for the News-Leader. Email news tips to criley@news-leader.com.
